As sweet as it gets
by EmmaSo
Summary: After burning down the cabin in the woods, Beth and Daryl are on the run again. A weak emotional bond forms between them and slowly starts to grow stronger. How will the two of them deal with their feelings right in the middle of the apocalypse? How will they be able to survive with just the other one to rely on? Romance/Drama/Hurt/Comfort BethxDaryl/Bethyl Warnings: Language
1. Foreword

Foreword

Hey guys!

So this is literally my first attempt on writing fanfiction and It is also my first attempt on writing a story in English. English is not my mother tongue and I probably pretty much suck at writing, I just needed to get this stuff out of my mind.

Since a while I've completely fallen for Bethyl and this story is some kind of therapy to save myself from freaking out. This story will contain lots of swearing (as we're used to from the series) and a few sexy scenes in later chapters as well, but no porn!

This story is currently beta-ed by LunaShadowWolf13 ( u/3034023/). Chapters edited: **1**/10

My author's notes won't be edited.

Ok, so I hope you'll enjoy this a little bit. Please don't be too hard on my phrasing and grammar. I'm just trying. :)

Last but not least, the usual disclaimer: The Walking Dead and any of it's characters don't belong to me.


	2. The Stand

**As sweet as it gets**

by EmmaSo

„_Welcome to your life__  
__There's no turning back__  
__Even while we sleep__  
__We will find you" _

I.

She was panting. She had been trying to suppress it for a while, but she was on the ropes. Daryl had kept up a pace the whole day long that she just couldn't keep up with. She stopped and deeply snapped for air.

"Daryl, please... Can we just take a break? For a moment?," she gasped, trying to sound not too whiny.

He turned around a gave her one of these 'nobody-can-read-my-mind' looks. She saw that he was breathing heavily, too, yet not as exhausted as she was, when he gave her a small nod. Filled with relief, she dumped her backpack on the ground, sat down and lay her head on one bent knee. He kept on standing, alertly glancing around the woods. After a few minutes her breath grew less heavy and she lifted her head again watching him for a hint on what he was up to. But he just gave her a quick look and started to stare in the wilderness again.

"Daryl...," she started but then stopped again. She couldn't find the right words to begin with. After that day in the cabin, when they had gotten drunk together and he had spilled his guts out to her things had become even more odd. On the one hand she had the feeling that he wasn't as grumpy as he had been before towards her, but on the other hand, he seemed to feel very uncomfortable about what had happened.

How could she explain to him, that it was okay? That there was nothing to be ashamed of, or feel awkward about?

"Gotta find a place for the night", he stated before she could say another thing. "Also some food. We're running short on supplies."

Silently she nodded and got up to her feet again. Maybe now wasn't the right moment.

She made an attempt to grab her backpack again, but he just picked it up and threw it over his shoulder, carrying his crossbow in his arms. When she opened her mouth to protest, he shook his head. "Need you to stay fit for a while. We'll probably have some more miles to walk."

When dawn came, they reached a clearing with a small hunting stand. Daryl checked the ladder and after leaving the luggage on the ground he climbed up to check out the hideout.

"Seems to be alright, at least for one night", he stated and she helped him to lift the weapons and the backpacks. They ate their last stock on crackers and canned peaches that they had found in a house a few days ago, and he let her drink all of the sweet peach juice. The silence between them made her sick, even though he acted surprisingly gentle towards her. After they had finished their meal, they were lost in their thoughts for a while. Beth thought about her dead father, her probably dead sister and that emotionally unstable redneck that she had ended up with. Under other circumstances — and with that she meant before the apocalypse — she would've never even looked at him. With his bad boy style, the leather west with wings on its back, the motorcycle and the scruffy beard... But "other circumstances" were long ago, and she had been another Beth back then. Now she realized, that she had developed feelings for him, that ran on a deeper level than pure company. They had started to get to know each other and somehow she had the impression to understand him very well. And she liked him.

There was just the thing, that he didn't seem to like friendship or company as much as she did. Or rather, he seemed to enjoy company, but only if it happened in silence. She could be pretty chatty and he … not. She wondered so many things – did he have a plan? Did he like her? Did he want to meet the others again, so he could get rid of her? Did he see her as a burden, or rather a challenge? A challenge on keeping her alive?

She knew that she couldn't stand a chance on surviving without him. But then she wondered how he would've done without her. On that night at the cabin, he had been so emotional. And she had given him the comfort he needed. And he _had_ needed it. If she hadn't been there, he maybe would've done something very stupid. He certainly would have!

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Would've, could've should've. Her life contained way to much conditional.

"You should go to sleep", Daryl suddenly said. "I can keep watch."

"You should sleep,too", she replied. "Walkers can't climb up here, and if they tried we'd certainly notice." _Would, should..."_

He looked at her with something like a smile on his face.

"But you won't find to sleep if I'm not awake, and if I lay down, I'll be asleep as soon as m' head touches the ground."

She looked at him for a second, puzzled. Then she had to giggle. Had he just made a joke? His smile grew wider.

"How do you know, I can't sleep when you're sleeping? For all I know you can't notice because _you are sleeping_."

He looked away and laughed a short and rough laughter. "Did n' know. Just Guessed." She giggled again.

"You're a mean one, Mr. Dixon."

He raised an eyebrow at her in question.

"I was … just quoting the Grinch... You know, from that movie?"

He shook his head.

"C'mon, you must know it?! Mr. Grinch who tries to steal Christmas?! Every child knows it! … No?"

She started singing:

"_You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch,  
You really are a heel,  
You're as cuddly as a cactus,  
You're as charming as an eel, Mr. Grinch.  
You're a bad banana with a greasy black peel!"_

He laughed again.

"What a charming description of me."

"Well, you maybe a little grumpy, but you would't go as far an steal Christmas, right?", she teased.

"I dunno...", he replied. "Maybe Mr. Grinch had his reasons?"

"Oh believe me he didn't...", she disrupted her thought. _But maybe he wasn't talking about Mr. Grinch?_

There it was back again, the awkwardness between them. Had he just tried to tell her something? Something about himself. Or did she interpret something in his statement that simply wasn't there?

She inhaled, searching for words.

"Daryl, I..."

"You should really go to sleep now."

She nodded in acceptance. He didn't want to discuss the topic right now. And she was really tired. Maybe tomorrow. Or the day after tomorrow. Or the day after that.

She woke up abruptly and without any orientation. Where was she? What had woken her?

"Daryl?," she whispered in panic, when a firm hand grasped her upper arm.

"Shhh," he made. "There are walkers down there. They're just passing by. Keep quiet." She felt her heartbeat increase immediately and panic grew in her chest. He seemed to sense her discomfort and pulled her close to himself. Until that moment she hadn't noticed that she was shivering with cold and her limps felt numb and stiff. He lay an arm around her and pulled her head against his chest. Warmth and comfort enclosed her.

"Don't panic, love, " he mumbled. "Go back so sleep." She started to feel safer and relaxed a little bit. It felt good to be so close to him. He seemed to be always strong, always calm. He wouldd never panic about some lost walkers. She was safe with him.


	3. On the Road

_Hey everybody! I'm back with a new chapter and I'm now more certain about where I'm going with this fic. I really enjoy working on it (since it is some kind of therapy to me, to keep me calm and not freak out about next week's episode) even though I'm pretty sure that it's very poorly written and I'm sorry for that. :/_

_Whatsoever, I hope you enjoy the storyline._

When she woke up her back and legs were chilly, but her arms and chest were covered in warmth. She was laying comfortably on his lap with her head, her arms wrapped around his legs and waist. She was laying on _his lap._ She opened up her eyes wide, feeling the urge to jump up and bring at least two metres of space between them. Instead she stayed where she was. She knew it was to close for him and that he'd feel uncomfortable about it, even though she herself pretty much enjoyed it. But she didn't want him to feel uncomfortable around her.

Slowly she pushed herself up, to not waken him and quietly crawled away from him on her knees. Then she disentangled her hands from his body and drew backwards. For a few seconds she looked at him, as he was sleeping calmly. He leaned against the wooden wall of the stand, his left arm was wrapped around his crossbow, the other one lay on the ground next to him, where she had been laying. His head was slightly bent to his left side. He looked older than he was at this moment (or at least older as she thought he was), exhausted and broken. She couldn't stand this look, it felt as she was invading his personal space way too much.

Carefully she crawled towards her backpack and searched it for the toothpaste they had found a few days ago. She put a bit on her finger, because she had no toothbrush and started to scrub her teeth. When she finished she took a sip from the water bottle to clean her mouth and spit it down the ladder.

The noise seemed to have woken him since he suddenly jerked is head up and glanced at her, before realizing what she was doing. She cleared her throat, "Morning".

"Morning," he replied, pulling his legs, getting up and stretching. "Want some?" she asked and offered him the toothpaste.

"Thanks," he mumbled and put it on his finger. She looked away, still feeling shy towards the intimacy she had felt between them just a few minutes ago. Even though she had felt like and invader she had liked seeing him without that bad-tempered look on his face.

She knew that he was carrying a heavy burden, that he was building walls to defend himself against any threat – physically or emotionally. She wanted to understand him and tell him, that it was okay. But actually she didn't get a thing of it.

He handed the toothpaste back without a word and took the water bottle to bathe his mouth.

She put it in her backpack and dug out a piece of soap. When she made the attempt to pour water on her hands, he stopped her.

"It's our last water. We should save it. Maybe we will come across a stream or a pool t'day. You can wash there."

Even though it went against her, she pocketed the soap again and packed her stuff together.

"Where will we be going today?" she asked.

"Find a house or a store to stockpile our supplies", he answered shortly.

"Daryl, shouldn't we find a house? I mean a safehouse, to stay for a while. The nights are getting colder, and maybe we need to work out a plan to meet with the others."

He shrugged. "Theres no way to find the others. They're gone or dead. And what are we supposed to do with a safehouse? We will run out of food quick and then we will have to leave anyway. Also there's nowhere to be safe. I say we keep on movin'."

She knew there was no way on argue with him. He was the leader and she would follow.

Later that day they eventually found a stream, so they could refill their bottles and have a wash. When Daryl took off his shirt he brought a little distance between them and discretely turned his back to her, so she could undress, too. It was a silent agreement between them which they had kept up for the last weeks. He would never leave her sight, but take enough time to let her finish before turning around. It was more difficult with other bodily functions they had to comply with. Usually Daryl would just step behind a tree for a minute, but Beth felt really uncomfortable with the lack of privacy.

She quickly took of her tee but kept her bra on and splashed water over her body. Then she rubbed the soap over her skin and washed it off. Because of the lack of towels, she took her shirt back on while still wet. She wondered how long they could keep on doing this. It was almost autumn and for her taste it was already way too cold to wash in the open. Since the apocalypse she had almost constantly lived in a house (or at least something like that) and only spent few days on the run. Now they had been in this situation for a couple of weeks, and it was hard for her to get used to it.

She took off her boots and pants, but slipped over a long sweater she had found a few days ago that was way too big for her but kept her warm and guaranteed her more privacy. She quickly washed her legs and feet and started to shiver with cold. She put on an extra pair of socks to make her feet get warm and dry as soon as possible and slipped her trousers back on. She then glanced over to Daryl. He still wasn't dressed again and she found it very sweet that he took extra time to give her privacy because she was certain that he needed less than a minute to finish.

She started to rummage around in her backpack noisily to signal that she was ready to leave. He understood the hint and came back.

They left without a further word. After one or two hours of walking in silence they came across a narrow road. Daryl stopped and looked left and right to figure out where to go.

"Shall we follow the road," Beth asked. "Maybe it will lead us to a house or so..."

Daryl nodded.

"Let's head south," he said an turned to the left.

_Wherever south is._

"You know what I miss most?," she suddenly started to chat, "Bathroom facilities! A hot shower or a real working toilet. Even a wash-bowl just to wash your hands whenever you want to. And a hairbrush. And shampoo! Oh how I miss shampoo! Even dry shampoo. And my electric toothbrush. I don't even know when I felt clean for the last time."

She stopped her chitchat to give him a chance to reply, but he just gave her an odd look and a nod and continued to walk.

"And how I would love to take a bath. I mean a real bath, hot and long and with lots of foam. I would stay in until my hands and feet got totally shriveled."

"Never took a bath," he shortly replied.

She fell in puzzled silence for a few seconds. He had allowed her to learn something about him. _Never took a bath._ She felt very stupid about what she had just been saying. She must seem like a real spoiled bitch to him.

"No need for staring, girl," he said with slight amusement in his voice. "Ya could've known, could ya?"

She thought about his comment for a second and then tried to imagine Daryl Dixon in a bubble bath. The idea was so hilarious that she immediately burst out into laughter. She couldn't hold it back and laughed so hard that she had to stop walking and bent down to support herself on her knees.

"What's so funny,?" he asked and she could hear her laughter amusing him.

"It's just...," she gasped for air, "You in a bathtub... with lots of foam and bubbles and... oh my god, hahaha..."

He chuckled roughly and deep and it made her happy to see a smile on his face.

"You're an unbelievable little Missy, " he said.

"_I _am unbelievable, Mr. Grinch,?" she replied. "You can't be serious. I'm no walking mystery that never took a bath. I'm just a girl stuck in a totally awkward situation."

Her smile dropped. It sounded different from what she had actually tried to say. When she looked up in his face she knew that he had taken it wrong. He stared at her with the old grim look he always wore and she could see that her words hurt him.

"I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay."

"No it isn't, I didn't want to say... I'm not... I'm glad I'm with you." It sounded like a cheap like, although it wasn't. She enjoyed is awkward company, even though he sometimes freaked her out. But she felt an inexplicable warmth for him and she liked the way he cared about her.

"Just leave it," he replied, "Need to carry on."

With that he turned around and marched on.

"Daryl please, let's talk through this!" she exclaimed, but he kept on walking. She took a deep breath and paused a little longer while watching his back. She just wanted to follow him, when suddenly a walker stumbled on the street in front of her and approached her with outstretched arms. She let out a small cry and stumbled backwards reaching for the knife she carried. The walker reached her quickly and she lifted her arm to draw the knife deep into his skull when she tripped over something and fell. The thing quickly lunged at her and as she wanted to attack it again, she realized that she had lost her knife. A loud scream of panic escaped her. "DARYL!"

But before she could blink an arrow pierced the walkers head. The older man shoved it away from her and offered her a hand to help her get up. She trembled with the aftermath of fear and just let herself fall against his chest. He stiffened for a second, but then hugged her tightly.

"It's okay," he whispered, "Shhh, it's okay. I'm here."

She choked her tears off but still tried to stabilise her emotions. No talking, laughter, fear for death all this within a few minutes – it had just been too much.

He hugged her tighter and rocked her back and forth. The human contact felt so good and comforting, that she dug her face deep into his chest and let him embrace her longer than she actually needed. But since he didn't seem to mind she wanted to savour it as long as possible.

Finally he loosened his grip on her and lifted her chin with his hand.

"You okay again?

She nodded.

"Want to carry on? We need to find food and shelter for the night."

She nodded again. He turned around to march on, but when she wanted to follow him, he silently grabbed her hand. She looked at it for a second and walked beside him with a faint smile on her face.


	4. The Shed

**Hey Guys! Wow thank you so much, there are actually people reading (and probably liking ;) ) this story. I was so happy about reading your reviews. I'm really busy atm, but I spent most of my free time on working on this chapter!**

**This one's pretty long and I'm sorry for starting so slow, but there will be more action soon! But I like to create their relationship from scratch. I also made a sketch on how the story will continue and I there's a lot lying ahead. ;)**

**Enjoy! :***

xxx

They had been walking along for a while when Daryl carefully unfolded his hand from hers. In a touch of sympathy he had thought it was a good idea to walk hand in hand with her, to give her comfort and security, but now it made him feel awkward. Most of the time he had known her, he had felt a certain sympathy for her, but he had never been very close to her. The situation in which they had involuntarily been thrown together demanded much more intimacy from them, than they would usually been willing to give each other. He knew it would have been different with any other person from the prison. If he had ended up with Rick or Michonne, or even Maggie, they would have been much stronger. There would've been less responsibility left on his shoulders, they would be quicker and safer and it would be easier to not invade each other's personal space so much.

But now he had to care for her, pay twice the amount of attention to literally everything. He didn't blame her, it wasn't her fault. And he really did like her and wanted to keep her safe. But he needed her to learn, to grow and to be brave.

He noticed that she stared at him, that she was looking for a hint on why he had pulled his hand back from hers. But he didn't want to give anything away. She was sweet and said nice things to him, and he realized how effort she put into their forced relationship. She really wanted to make things good between them. Still it felt uneasy being so close to her. He had spilled his guts out to her the other night, but he had been very drunk and he knew they had crossed a line – at least he thought so.

He increased his pace to avoid her gaze. He felt guilty about being so grumpy towards her, but he couldn't afford to let any feelings take over him at the moment. When he would start a conversation with her, they would – sooner or later – end up talking about the people from the prison, Hershel, Rick, Maggie. Beth would grieve for her dead father and her lost sister, and it would remind him of his own brother and how no one he had known in his life before the apocalypse was still alive. Even though he usually didn't show it there had been people he had actually cared about. And it did hurt him to know them all dead or zombified.

He sighed at this thoughts. _Stop it. Focus._ They had to find food, this had absolute priority.

After a while they noticed a sign on the road which pointed towards a narrow dirt road. It said: _Joey's Hunting Accessorizes & Grocery Shop – 1 mile_.

His face brightened up. "Look," he said to Beth, "We should check this out."

He noticed a bright smile on her face, but then her expression got a concerned look. "Don't you think it got already looted?"

"Maybe," he shrugged, "But there's at least not many people using a crossbow. Maybe I can find some bolts there. And a better knife for you."

She nodded in agreement and they silently continued their walk. He noticed that she started to lope and it amused him. She could be so full of hope and optimism and it made him be a little bit more sanguine, too.

About fifteen minutes later they reached the shop. It looked more like a shack, but had a front porch and two floors and had once probably been very popular to campers and huntsmen who spent their holidays or weekends around. The windows were still intact, but the front door was unhinged. Carefully they approached the entrance watching their surroundings as well as as they tried to peek into the shop. Daryl withdrew his knife from his belt, and she followed his lead. When he reached the door she turned around to watch their backs. It would be awful to get trapped in the store, but their was no sign of a walker anywhere near them, and since they had been very quiet she was optimistic, that once they've gotten in, no one would follow them. Daryl carefully stepped into the small sales room. It looked overall filthy and there was a lot of shattered glass lying on the ground, but he also saw some still intact vitrines and shelves. The ground floor only contained the sales room and a small employes area that's door was unhinged too. He quickly crossed the empty room and checked out the backroom but it was also empty.

"Alright," he said and Beth quickly stepped into the store. He saw hope drop on her face, when she saw the looted vitrines and shelves.

"Looks as if we've come to late," she stated disappointedly.

He shook is head and started to browse the drawers behind the counter. He only found some small knives that weren't particularly helpful for killing walkers, but they could use it for others things. He turned around towards the vitrines. There were some guns left, but he couldn't find any ammo and also he didn't want to abandon his crossbow. He opened a once locked, but no broken cabinet and let out a small whistle of surprise. In it, a hunting bow and a quiver with arrows were attached to a hanger. His noise had attracted Beth' attention who had went through the grocery shelves.

"What's this?" she asked, even though she pretty obviously knew what it was.

"I think we found a nice weapon for you," he replied.

"For me?," she asked in shock, "I've never used a bow before!"

"Then I'll teach you," he said determined and released bow and arrows from the hangers. She took it reluctantly, but didn't protest.

He searched the rest of the cabinet but found nothing useful. The next cabinet contained a couple of drawers and he thought it must be their lucky day, when he found a pack of crossbow bolts and a long hunting knife.

"Nailed it," he murmured, then turned around to face Beth. "Did ya find anythin' useful, girl?"

"Just some tuna and apple sauce," she replied and Daryl grimaced. He hated tuna, as everybody left on this world seemed to do too, since every time they searched a store or a house for food they would find the obligatory can of tuna which nobody was willing to take.

When she saw the look on his face a small smile tug on her lips. "Tuna or starve?," she asked and caused the frown on his face to disappear.

"Not sure yet," he said a smirk playing on his lips. "Wanna check out the upper floor, too? Maybe we can stay for the night."

She nodded. He put the bolts into his backpack. Then he gave her the hunting knife.

"This is much better than the one you used before. Keep it at the ready."

She took it and nodded another time. "I'll cover you," she said determined and it sounded so sweet from her mouth that an involuntary grin appeared on this face. He quickly turned away so she couldn't see it. Actually, he was very proud on her. She started to take responsibility for them and she wanted to contribute something.

Quietly he walked upstairs but he was quite certain, that he wouldn't find someone upstairs. Even though they had been quiet, the sound of the shuffling through the drawers and shelves should've attracted a walker's attention. He carefully turned around the corner of the stairs. The upper floor contained a narrow hall and two doors. The first led into an empty bathroom that didn't even look too filthy. They were definitely not the first people who attempted to use the house as a shelter, still most of the looters had been more interested in supplies than in a place to stay. The second room was the bedroom and it didn't look too bad too. Of course it was pretty dirty, but the windows weren't broken and there was a bed. And it was still better to sleep in a dirty bed, than on the dirty ground, he thought. He turned around to face Beth who had followed him carefully.

"Stay?" he asked.

"Seems to be pretty okay," she replied. They grabbed the sheets from the bed and shook the dirt off. Then they repacked their bags and rearranged their weapons. Beth exchanged the sheaths for the knives on her belt and Daryl stashed the bolts on his crossbow. She let her fingers run over the material of the bow and then she turned it around to examine it.

"Tha' bow's pretty amazing. Ya very lucky to have it," he tried to encourage her.

She shrugged. "I don't know," he replied. "Seems to be pretty difficult to handle."

A smile played on his lips.

"Isn't easy. But you can learn. Starting now."

She knitted her brows.

"I'd rather use the crossbow."

He smiled.

"Me too."

She darted a surprised gaze at him and then laughed.

"And we only have one, I get it."

"A bow's not to bad, y' know," he explained as they made their way downstairs. "It's quicker than a crossbow and easier to draw."

He was happy they had something to talk about that would distract her from their problems. When he showed her how to nock the arrows and aim, she was very concentrated. Actually the bow was too big for her and she had some difficulties to draw it, but he knew that she would add some muscles soon.

Her first attempts in hitting an aim were pretty poor and he noticed that she got frustrated.

"It's too difficult," she complained. "I'm not strong enough."

He sighed. "You'll grow stronger."

She wore an angry expression on her face, but nocked another arrow. She aimed for a while and then let the bow sink again.

"I can't do it. It's to heavy and I can't keep my arms still."

"Come, I'll help you," he said and stepped behind her. He lay his arms around her slender figure and grabbed hold of the bow under her hand. He noticed her stiffening for a moment, but then she lifted the weapon again and he helped her to draw the bow.

"Now aim. I won't help you with that."

He could feel her concentration. He imagined how she would knit her brows and squint one eye and he thought about how sweet she looked. He could feel her warmth against him and he inhaled the smell of her hair. When she finally released the bowstring, reality struck him.

She let out a happy squeal, "I hit the mark!"

He nodded in approval still confused about what had just happened. He had lost his train of thought, he had been distracted by _her_.

"What?" she asked not being able to interpret the confused look on his face.

"Ugh, nothing. Good job."

She smiled wide and let out a small giggle.

"Let's do it again!" she challenged him while collecting the arrow. "I really need to practice!"

He wondered why she suddenly was so cheery. Moments ago she had been all whiney about using a bow and now she seemed perfectly happy. Had she only needed the sense of achievement? Or... He didn't finish the thought. _Bullshit, _he told himself.

"What's up, Mr. Grinch?" she teased when he didn't make any attempt to help her again.

"Told ya, it's nothing. Ya need to practice by yourself. I can't hold the bow for you in a fight."

She furrowed her brows. "You only helped me _once_. How am I supposed to learn so quick? I don't think you got all pro on your crossbow in one day."

He made a vague movement with his hands then shrugged and stepped behind her again. _Focus_, he told himself. When she lifted the bow he fixated his gaze on the treeline not trying to look down on her. This was to close. He couldn't be so close to her. Not to _her_.

She fired some not-so-bad shots but he was relieved when it finally started to get dark.

"Let's have somethin' t' eat," he said. "We can continue to practice t'morrow. But then you'll go on your own."

He turned around and went into the house but he could feel her gaze fixing on his back.

xxx

They sat on the double bed and silently ate the tuna. Beth could see Daryl was choking on his portion and she wondered so many things about him. Why did he always try to push her away? She could understand that he wasn't to happy about being stuck with her, but he couldn't seriously want to live a life in silence. She knew that he was a lone wolf or something like that but she didn't want to believe that he didn't want any social interaction at all. She knew he had had friends at the prison, like Carol, Rick or Michonne. She knew he cared about people. Why was he so cool to her.

She knew they would sleep together on the bed tonight. There was no reason for one of them to sleep on the ground since it was uncomfortable and cold and they needed to get as many rest as they could. She knew Daryl would be all gentleman about her taking the bed, but she would protest and he would lie next to her. She passed him the apple sauce with a faint smile on her face and she saw his face brighten up a little.

"Ugh, I really need to get this disgusting taste out of my mouth," he said and she giggled softly. She wasn't fond of tuna as well, but she could imagine worse.

They ate the apple sauce in silence, everyone of them lost in their own thoughts. After they finished, Beth's stomach still ached for food but she didn't want to complain.

"Maybe we can do some hunting tomorrow?" she suggested.

He silently nodded, then stood up and left for the bathroom. She lay down on one side of the bed and turned her back towards the door. When he reentered the room she realized he hesitated. She turned around to see him fixing her with an odd expression on his face.

"Come," she said softly and patted the bed beside her. She could see him sigh softly then he approached the bed. She turned his back to him again and felt the bed shift under his weight. There was still a wide gap between them and even though she had liked sleeping so close to him the other night, she knew it was better to not invade his personal space more than necessary.


	5. Hunting

**Hey guys! I just finished my next chapter. I don't even have words on how inspired I've recently been on writing! Last time I actually wrote a story was on NaNoWriMo 2011. D: (And I wrote in my mother tongue back then...) **

**So last night's episode... What do you think? I've totally fallen for Daryl's development (I don't want to go into this because of possible spoilers...). I try to let "my" characters develop, too. I'm not sure how well I'm doing it atm, but I really try. A reviewer said that Beth seems to be too whiney in my fic. I agree on that, in the series she's (now) much stronger. But I was trying to slow things a little down, since I want to make the change become more obvious. I hope you don't mind. :)**

**However, I hope you'll like the next chapter. **

**4.**

_I know places we can go, babe  
Where the highs won't bring you down, babe  
No, the highs won't hurt you there, babe_

When he woke up he felt Beth huddled against his back. The sun was already shining. He was pretty sure she didn't do it on purpose and somehow he liked the innocent way she tried to get human contact. Somehow he liked touching her, too. Still he felt a little uneasy about it_. _He wasn't used to touch people, not in that way. He carefully rolled over and watched her for a while. She had tucked up her legs and hugged herself into an awkward position. Her head was curled against her chest and her locks softly fell over her face. She looked so peaceful, yet so vulnerable and he felt the urge to pull the blankets over her and tuck them tight around her.

He realized how his thoughts trailed off while watching her. He thought about his past life, about his brother and his father and even about his mother. He thought about how different he and Beth actually were and how he never met anyone like her before. Actually, he thought his life hadn't been much better before the apocalypse, it had only been different. Of course this life was shit. Dead men were walking around and trying to literally eat anything alive, people didn't trust each other anymore and tried to kill each other to maybe survive a little longer. There was no food, no electricity, no running water.

But on the other hand, for him it hadn't been much different before. He had always been among people that didn't trust each other, who were willing to victimize a person's life for their personal benefit. He had never experienced any luxury like a clean house or a fridge full of food. Most of his childhood he had been starving, at least that's what he remembered. And later, he had lived from day to day, just as he did now. His only aim had been to survive. It had gotten a little bit messier, a little bit bloodier in the past two years, but all in all he had always been a survivalist.

Actually the biggest difference to his former life were the people he was with, or had been with. And these people were better persons than those he used to know. They had had a sense of justice, a sense of morality. They had been generous and selfless. The people he had been with had trusted and helped each other and in his former life this had only happened to him on very rare occasions. The only person he had relied on had been his brother. Once more, he wished Merle would've stayed with them. If they hadn't have left him on that roof in Atlanta... maybe he would still be alive, maybe he would've become a different man – a better one than he had been. _Have I become a better man?_

Suddenly Beth twitched in her sleep and made him return to reality. He didn't want her to see him watching her, so he decided to get up before she woke up. He quietly rose from the bed, grabbed his crossbow and carefully walked downstairs. He had fixed the door the other night, so no walker would accidentially walk into the store. Before leaving the building he quickly peeked through a window to check the front of a house for anyone for something that might cause danger.

When he stepped on the front porch he realized that it would be a sunny day. Autumn was coming, one could easily spot it by the yellow and brown leaves in the tress. As no danger seemed to be in sight, he decided to relieve himself on the outside. Since they had recently refilled their water bottles he thought he could waste some water on washing his face, so he walked upstairs again and went to the bathroom. Of course there had been no running water for quite a while but the drain was still intact. He took off his shirt and gave himself a quick catlick. He then decided to change shirts and walked back into the bedroom. He carefully dug through his bag, and finally found a – more or less – clean shirt. When he arose he noticed she was awake watching him.

He hesitated for a moment before pulling the shirt over his head. How long had she been watching him?

"Morning," he said, unable to cover the wonderment in his voice.

She sat up.

"Morning," she replied and a faint smile tug on her lips.

"Ya should get ready. We need t' leave. Maybe we can do some hunting today."

"Oh yes,! I'm starving. Also I can practice my shooting skills," she said cheerfully.

"Yeah, sure," he answered and the two of them knew that she wouldn't even hunt a squirrel down.

She got up from bed and rubbed her hands over her arms.

"Ugh chilly."

He didn't say anything, because he didn't know what to reply. She took the few hygiene supplies she possessed and slipped past him to the bathroom. They quickly gathered their things together and left. Beth seemed to be pretty cheerful this morning since she was very chatty, but this time he didn't mind.

"So, what are your plans on hunting? What do we hunt? And where?"

He chuckled.

"Well we're already in the forest. Can't imagine a better place for hunting."

"Sure," she replied, "But how... I mean, where do we start?"

"Leave this up to me, okay?"

"But Daryl, I need to learn! What if... what if... you won't be able to hunt for some reason? Then I will need to care for us."

He chuckled again. "Sure."

"Why aren't you taking me serious?" she complained and the indignation in her speech amused him.

"I am, girl!" he replied. "You wanna learn how to hunt? We start now."

She stopped in surprise and he smirked at her puzzled look.

"Come on, we're burning sunlight!" he called at her.

xxx

Beth stared at Daryl's back for a moment. She didn't get a thing of him. First he was making fun of her and from one second to the other he changed his mind from no to yes. When he called for her she followed him with a shrug on her shoulders.

He lead them through the trees for a while and Beth tried to watch carefully what he was doing, but she couldn't see any difference to what they had been doing for the past days – walking through the forest. After about half an hour, she got impatient.

"Daryl, what are we actually doing?" she asked.

"Tracing," he answered in monosyllables.

"But how am I supposed to trace, when I don't know how it works?"

He stopped and turned around.

"The signs are all there. You jus' gotta know how to read'em."

She bowed her head and looked in his face. Was he making fun of her again? He hold her gaze for a second and then let his eyes trail over the ground. It took a second for her to realize that she was supposed to follow his eyes. She focused on the ground furrowing her brows in concentration. And then she saw it. There were marks on the ground that disrupted the even carpet of leaves on the ground, they were uneven and not easy to follow, but she tried map the connection between the traces in her head. Her eyes danced over the ground and tried to find an explanation but she couldn't figure it out.

She desperately shook her head. "I need help on this one. Those marks seem to point to the left and they're small, and those lead straight ahead but they're different..."

He silently nodded and darted a look at her. She glanced back and realized he didn't plan on giving her an answer.

"Daryl, I don't get it..."

"Yeah you do. You already have the answer."

She furrowed her brows once again and stared on the ground. Left... straight ahead... It wasn't possible... And then the scales fell from her eyes.

"It's _two_ different traces, isn't it?" she exclaimed. "Two animals have passed!"

He smiled.

"Good, girl. Now which one's which?"

She fixed her eyes to the traces once more.

"Well... those look petite... but look over there, there's a bigger scratch on the ground. Like it slipped... Or maybe started to run."

She stepped closer to the big mark. "The marks are so small. Maybe it was a rabbit."

Daryl shook his head. "Nah... it's a deer."

"A deer?" she squealed. "We have to follow it! It could keep us fed for several days!"

He chuckled. "The deer has long been gone – especially since you tend to make much noise when something pleases you."

She pouted at him.

"So what's the point of showing me then?" she asked.

"You need to _learn_," he replied and she felt pretty stupid.

"So what's those other traces?" she asked trying to sound less touchy.

"Oh those... those you should know. Watch again, carefully."

She stared on the marks. It were long and slender marks, like something had been dragged over the ground. Only wasn't it one continuing mark but several that seemed to alternate.

"It looks like... footsteps... But of someone limping or so..."

She paused and looked at his face for a hint. For a moment their eyes fixed on each other and his gaze distracted her. She had never realized how blue his eyes actually were. The look he gave her a sight tingling in the stomach. She wanted to think but the look on his face diverted her thoughts. She took in a deep breath and then unsnapped her gaze from his. _Focus_. She told herself.

"It's a walker, isn it?" she asked.

"Yep."

"Why are we tracing a walker?"

"You wanted to hunt, didn't ya?"

"Yeah, but food, Daryl..." she sighed. "I'm starving."

"I know. I'll take care for food. But _you_ need to practice your skills. Now, follow'em."

She pouted again but did as he told her. Carefully the followed the traces trying not to step on them and destroy an important hint. The marks were very uneven, but big and it wasn't even that hard to follow them. She wondered why she had never done this before. After a short while he stopped her.

"We're close. Be careful. Keep your bow at the ready." She nodded and raised her chin, heading towards the direction the marks led to. And then she saw it. It was limping through the trees and didn't seem to head towards a certain direction. She felt her heartbeat increase when she raised her bow.

"Wait," Daryl whispered behind her. She quickly glanced towards him, realizing that he was holding his crossbow. He passed her, and whistled. The walker stopped and slowly turned around. When it saw them it suddenly increased its pace, arms stretched out towards them. Daryl released a bolt from his crossbow and pinned the should of the thing against a tree.

He then pointed his head towards Beth.

"Now, it's your turn."

Her face brightened. First of all she had thought he wouldn't let her take the thing down but now she stepped forward and raised her bow. It still was hard for her to draw the bow, hold it still and aim at the same time. The first arrow she shot went far away from her aim. She frowned, took another arrow and targeted again. The arrow almost stroke the walker but just a moment before it would've hit the thing, the dead made an attempt to release itself from its boundaries.

"Damn," she murmured, "That's not fair. It moved!"

"Deer move, too," Daryl replied.

She made a third attempt to kill the walker but failed again.

"I can't do it. I'm not strong enough yet. Please help me, " she pleaded.

She saw his eyes dancing between her and the walker.

"Nah, ye can do it on your own."

She got impatient and her arms trembled even more. The fourth attempt failed.

"Fuck it," she said angrily.

"Come on, girl," Daryl scolded her. "Just try a bit harder."

"I hate this damn bow. It's bullshit," she ranted, but raised it again. The walker pulled hard on its restraint and she could hear flesh rip, when it slowly started to free itself.

"Fuck you, you stupid thing. Fuck, fuck, fuck you! Fuck this world, all of it!"

She released the arrow. It struck the walker right through it's neck. The thing raised its arms in protest, then it finally released itself from the restraint and rushed up to Beth. She angrily withdrew her hunting knife, made two big steps towards the living dead and dug it deep into its skull.

"FUCK YOU, YOU HEAR ME?"

She yanked the knife out of the head and breathed heavily. She then jerked her chin up and darted an angry look towards Daryl.

"I can take care for my self now, Mr. Grinch, okay?" she panted not concealing the upcoming humour in her voice. "I learned my lesson. Can we get something to eat now?"

xxx

**And one final question: Do you have any suggestions about what's going to happen in the season finale? D:**


	6. The Incident

**Okay guys, here's another update. I've been working on that chapter for ages and actually I'm still not satisfied with it. But on the other hand I don't think I can do better. :/**

**At least this one's a very long chapter. :) Also I've already roughly sketched at least two more chapters and I'm confident that I'll be able to update tomorrow! I really want to post at least another update before the finale! I have some ideas I like a lot and I'm afraid the last episode will spoil them all, because I'm going to be overpowered with grief.**

**However.. Let me know what you think! Also if you have a TWD (or multifandom including TWD) tumblr please let me know! I'd like to follow you! :)**

**Oh yeah since I forgot about it in the last chapters... Warning: very strong language :P**

**And one last thing: I'm absolutely not familiar with the American system of units. It's really confusing for me since I'm used to the metric system. Anyhow, I did some research on it. I barely used it, but please excuse any mistakes in it, okay? :D**

**5.**

They sat around the fire and shared the meagre output of Daryl's hunt. He had only succeeded in hunting down a skinny rabbit. He wanted to make a some more attempts on finding more food, but the two of them had been very exhausted by the lack of food and additionally, they had to find shelter for the night. But they had failed at finding a decent place to sleep, too and he was pretty mad at himself. He didn't mind so much where he slept, but he knew she did. She also did mind killing rabbits or other animals she considered to be cute, or skinning them or sleeping in the open, but she did not complain. Somehow it made him even feel worse. He wasn't even able to nourish or protect her properly and her not-complaining about it made him feel as if she didn't expect different from him. He knew it was bullshit and Beth would never think like that. Still an annoying pang in his stomach remained.

After having finished their silent meal, he got up and ground the fire. The last warmth of the day had long since passed and he couldn't help but feel the chill of the night. He sat down again and leaned against a tree. He could see Beth was hugging herself for warmness.

"Go t' sleep he murmured.

"Can't,she replied. 的t's so cold and I won't be able to sleep anyhow."

"Hm,he made.

"Don't 'Hm' me,she said, 添ou go to sleep and I'll keep watch."

He didn't answer. He knew he wouldn't sleep and she knew it too. Not because he didn't trust her, but because he felt as he must take care for her and not the other way round. She shivered again and tried to hug herself closer. He silently watched her silhouette in the dark, but he couldn't stand it for long.

"Come,he told her and outstretched one arm. She hesitated for a moment but quickly crawled into his hug when she realized he was serious about it. They cuddled up in each other's warmth for a while when she started to speak again.

"Daryl?"

"Hm."

"I miss them."

He sighed internally.

"I know."

"Sometimes I wonder how my life would be, if anything of this hadn't happened. If the world was still normal, and my parents were alive and we'd still live at the farm..."

He shrugged.

"Probably it would be, as you ever imagined,he replied.

"Maybe...,she replied. 釘ut would I be happy?"

"Don' know. Are you happy now?"

She inhaled deeply.

"At that very moment... Yes. In general... I don't know. Could be better. Could be worse."

_At that very moment._

Why would she be happy now? What did being happy even mean to her? Maybe it was feeling full, or having a real bed to sleep at night. Maybe it was having a job and a house. Or a dog... Or children. Or maybe, it meant something else.

He looked down at her pale hair. And she looked up. They stared at each other for a moment, then she turned her gaze away.

"I don't think I would've been the same person,she continued, 徹bviously, I mean...,she sighed. 的 would've been weak."

"Hm,he made again.

"Did you ever have any dreams, Daryl?she asked.

He shrugged, trying to indicate his answer. There was another moment of silence between them.

"I don't know if I had any dreams either,she suddenly admitted to him. 鏑ike... I planned on going to college or so.. Maybe doing something with literature or art or so... Or becoming a vet like my father... Oh, I reckon this is more of a childhood dream. Don't think I would've been able to stand the blood... I mean, before."

He felt her moving closer.

"It seems so pointless to me now. Like, why would anyone have dreams at all? It doesn't matter, does it? All we need is to survive."

He rubbed his fingers over his lips, like he tended to do when he was thinking. Even though he thought her words were somehow right, he didn't like her talking like that. She was always so positive about everything and he was unsure about her sudden negativism.

"Why would _you _say that?he asked.

"Why would I say what?she replied. 的sn't it, what you think?"

"Maybe."

"So what's wrong with it?"

"It's not what you think."

He felt her twitch against him.

"Maybe,she answered cryptically.

They fell silent again. He felt as if he walked into a trap. Had she tried to provoke a reaction from him with her words? Again he looked down on her bright head, which lay now cuddled against his chest. He felt the urge to touch her hair, to pet her head, stroke it gently. She _had _tried to trap him. She was clever. A faint smile tugged on his lips. _What's wrong with you Daryl Dixon? Does a girl get your head messed all up or what?_

He loosened his hug on her. What had he just been thinking? She was just a girl. And she needed him to stay alive. And maybe he needed her, too_. _

**xxx **

None of them was sleeping that night. It was too cold and too uncomfortable. Every now and then one of them dozed of for a couple of minutes but neither could relax enough to fall asleep. When the first morning light came, Beth felt somehow relieved to get up. Her limbs felt stiff and her throat a little sore from the cold air.

They packed their things in silence and left their makeshift camp. After another hour of seemingly pointless walking through the forest, Beth dared to talk.

"I think we should find a city or a village. It is much more likely to find supplies there than by just stumbling all over the stopped but didn't turn around to face her. She saw that he was thinking over a reply and she didn't want to push him towards anything. A few seconds passed and he turned around.

"You sure?he asked.

"Why, yes,she answered. 展hy wouldn't I be?"

"It's dang' replied.

"Everything's dangerous. But Daryl, we need a couple of things. Not only food but especially that. And we need some more clothes and I'd really like a comb and... maybe a toothbrush?"

A sad smile appeared on his face.

"Yeah... 's go."

She darted a puzzled look at his back but then smiled happily. _If he already wanted to go, why had he even asked her for her opinion?_

She followed him for a couple of miles, but didn't actually realize a structure in his route. For a while she tried to do some tracking, but she couldn't figure anything particular out. When the sun began to set deeper she started to get impatient. Her stomach ached crazily and she felt weak and exhausted.

"Where are we actually going?she finally asked.

"We're replied.

"Do you know that territory."

"Sure."

_Sure._ Sure, what else? _He_ hadn't been sitting in the prison for over a year doing nothing. They began to climb an abrupt slope. She started to pant again, since she wasn't used to difficult terrain.

"Is there a point...,she breathed. 的n climbing up here?"

"There's a road at the top. Leading to Brookfield."

"Brookfield? Never heard of it."

He didn't reply and she realized once more she shouldn't expect him to reply to things like that. He just wasn't much of a talker.

"Is it big? she tried again.

"Nah... don't know."

"How far is it then?"

"Hm.. couple of miles I reckon."

She rolled her eyes at his back, panting heavier.

"Sun's already setting."

"Yeah... need t' hurry."

She followed him, climbing the slope for some more minutes. It became more and more difficult since the steep increased. Suddenly she slipped and squealed, trying to steady herself. He gripped her arm and helped her up.

She looked at him and saw his eyes fixing on hers again. They glanced at each other, when he abruptly turned around and started to make his way up again. She tried to catch her breath for another moment, realizing that they were almost at the top.

The last part was the hardest one. It was rather a climbing wall, than a slope anymore. Beth had some real trouble to lift herself and all the weight of her luggage. Plus, the bow was really bulky and she couldn't figure out how to not have it in her way. Daryl reached the top and turned around to offer her some help.

"Hand me your baggage,he told her and took the big backpack and the bow from her. He then offered her a hand and pulled her up. He pulled stronger than she had expected him to do, and then sudden weight shift made her tremble. She stumbled against him and he picked her up against his chest Their faces were only a few inches away from each other. She stared in his eyes with surprise and she saw an equal look on his face. They stared at each other for a few moments, none of them being willing or able to part. She was mesmerised by his gaze, she could feel his breath on her face and she was almost sure she felt his pulse beat. His eyes danced over her face and the look they carried seemed to be so soft. She saw his gaze fixing on her lips for a second. She moved a little closer and he didn't make an attempt to withdraw. She searched his face for a sign, a hint on what he was thinking. If he was feeling something at all, he was hiding it well. Yet, he didn't move away from her. The moment had been lasting long enough to cancel the situation they were driving into.

Since he didn't make any attempt to neither withdraw, nor get closer to her, she screwed up all her courage and made one last movement to close the gap between their lips. But before they could touch, he suddenly made two big steps back and released his grip on her. She stumbled out into naught.

For a moment she gasped for air staring at him in shock. What had she just done? What had _he _just done?

She didn't know what to say. She felt stupid and embarrassed. And hurt. Tears choke on her throat. Why had he let her be so close if he hadn't had any intention to... to_ what?_ To kiss her? Had she really expected him to do that? Her face flushed in heat by the disgrace. She bowed her head trying to cover the shame.

A few moments of silence passed. Then he cleared his throat.

"Gotta continue,he muttered and made an attempt to continue their way. She felt shame change to anger. How could he even dare to treat her like that?

"Are you fucking kidding me, Daryl Dixon?she exclaimed furious. He slowed down and she could see he was unsure about what to reply. That made her even angrier.

"Fuck you, you know that?she panted. 添ou're such a jerk."

He furrowed his brows.

"Snap out of it."

She gasped, stunned.

"I don't believe that. What do you actually think you are? What do you actually think _I am_? I can tell you one thing: I'm not a toy. So fuck off!she shouted and showed him the finger. She stomped past him, not actually knowing where she was going to but she didn't care in her outrage.

"Beth!he exclaimed behind her.

"Fuck you,she replied and increased her speed. He followed her and grabbed her arm.

"Leave me! she screamed. 笛ust fucking leave me, you ass."

"Beth! he panted again. 鉄top it. Listen."

"Listen to what? To your silence? I can't listen to you Daryl, because you never speak! You sometimes say words, but you don't fucking tell a thing."

She could see he was getting mad at her, but she was so furious she didn't give a damn.

"You behave all macho all the time, but when someone gets to close to you, you behave like a fucking pussy, you know that? Who would've thought Daryl Dixon was afraid of _little girls_!With that she turned around and dashed off again.

"Hey!he yelled at her and she could hear he was really mad. Instead of giving him a reply she showed him the finger once more.

"Hey!he called again and grabbed her arm, jerking her around heavily.

"Don't touch me! Ouch, you're hurting me!"

"I'm not afraidhe growled at her. 溺aybe you should stop on constantly overrating yourself."

"Overrating myself?she screamed back at him. 擢uck you again! I've done everything, Daryl, everything! Maybe I'm not all pro on hunting and shooting and that stuff, but at least I'm not such a fuck up!"

"If I was a fuck up, you'd be totally dead,he yelled at her.

"Maybe, but at least I wouldn't have to be with such a pussy!His grip on her arm grew harder and she knew she would carry a bruise from it, if he wouldn't release her soon.

"Let go, you're hurting me!she exclaimed and she had to admit that it sounded a little pitiful. He suddenly released her arm, but shoved her against a tree and pinned her to it with his while body.

She hysterically tried to push him away, but he wouldn't let her go and gripped her hands.

"Back off you dumbass!she screamed. 擢uck you, Daryl, fuck you!"

"I'm not afraid of you!he growled.

She stopped her struggle suddenly and darted a deadly look at him.

"Then prove it,she challenged him. He quickly lowered his head and passionately kissed her on the lips. She hadn't seen that coming even though she had asked for it, so she gasped in shock. But after a moment she submerged to his kiss. Her anger suddenly dissolved into butterflies and she could only feel his lips on hers. It wasn't really the kiss she has asked for, because it wasn't soft or gentle as she had imagined. It was hot and passionate and felt wrong and right at the same time. But after a few seconds he slowed down and the touches grew more gentle. They could've continued on doing this forever if only not the hissing of an approaching walker had brought them back to reality.

He quickly withdrew from her and pulled out his knife since his cross bow lay on the ground a couple of feet away from them. He walked towards the walker, anger still drawing his body language. Instead of digging the knife into the things skull, he stabbed in its chest shoving it a few feet away. Then he kicked its leg, so it broke and the walker tumbled to the ground. He stomped on its other leg an Beth heard the bones break under it.

"Daryl,she breathed, but he couldn't hear her. He kicked the zombie once more and drew his knife in its chest again and again. The walker stretched out its arms in protest, but wasn't able to move properly.

"Stop it, Daryl, stop it!she exlaimed, but she saw he would not listen to her. Desperately she withdrew her knife to end the massacre, when he finally dug his into the walkers skull. He stood up and looked at her angrily. Blood was splattered all over his face and chest and for the first time since a while he looked dangerous to her again.

"I'm afraid of nothing,he panted and turned around to walk away.

**xxx**

They hadn't made it to the wasn't very late but neither of them had wanted to walk into a city that was probably overrun by walkers during the night. They had set up another makeshift camp a couple of yards away from the road. Beth had been very quiet, actually she hadn't said one word since _the incident_. She now was a few feet away from him and turned her back towards him. She hugged herself and he could see her shoulders tremble slightly. They still hadn't eaten a thing on that day, save some berries they had found earlier in the morning. They also ran low on water.

If this _shit_ hadn't happened they could've made it to the city. They would sleep in a rather save house, they would be fed and maybe even clean. Why did she have to do that? She had totally taken him by surprise when she tried to kiss him. Even though he had been mesmerized by her gaze and didn't want to break the contact with her, his instincts had told him, that it was _wrong, _that they weren't supposed to do _that_. She was still a girl. _A beautiful one_. But a girl, almost a kid. He had never thought she would do such a thing.

He understood why she had gotten so upset. He had been a dick. And she had felt disgraced. He just didn't know how to cope with her emotions. She had been blind in anger and had acted headless and emotional and he had feared for her. And when she hadn't stopped insulting him and calling him names she had made him angry, too. _Fucking bitch stuff._ She was right, he freaked out when someone got to close. But he wouldn't accept someone calling him scared of kissing Beth Greene. He wasn't a teenage boy she could fool around with and she had provoked him. He couldn't handle her emotions, how was he supposed to cope with his own? He frowned at her back. At this very moment he wished he had never met her. He wasn't a babysitter and also he wasn't one of her little friends with who she could chitchat about boys and nail polish. His frown grew deeper.

But she wasn't a baby anymore and she didn't care about nail polish, did she? The way he had kissed her they way she had kissed him back had been _very_ mature. He swallowed hard. He had enjoyed it a lot. But he felt as if he didn't deserved her. She deserved a better man than him.

He saw her body shaking with grief. She tried to suppress her tears but he saw her failing. He lifted his arm in an uncertain movement as if he wanted to tell her that it's okay, but then realized she couldn't see it. He didn't know what to say to her, or how to comfort her. The only thing that came to his mind was to be with her. He got up hesitant, carefully walked over to her and sat down behind her. Inertly, he lay a hand on her shoulder. When he touched she shook again, heavier. He could hear her soft sniffing and he felt so helpless. He had understood that she was mad at him, but he didn't understand the crying.

"I'm so sorry!she croaked.

He froze in shock. Why was she apologizing to him?

"I'm so sorry,she repeated and it sounded so pitiful that he felt a pang in his heart. He cleared his throat.

"'s nothing t' be sorry 'bout,he murmured. She sniffed again.

"It's all my fault,she said and he was unsure about what she meant. But he felt that she needed comfort right now so he replied, 哲othin's your fault."

Again a heavy sob should her slender body.

"I don't know why I did this, I'm so ashamed! I'm behaving like a dumb bitch. I'm so sorry."

His look darted around in the dark as if he was looking for support.

"Beth...,he said softly. 泥on't blame yourself. There's nothin' to feel sorry 'bout. If someone needs to apologize then it's me."

She laughed bitterly.

"You haven't done anything. I did,she sobbed.

"Bullshit,he replied. 鉄top it."

"I just don't know what I was thinking. I need to grow, to get stronger. There's no place for fooling around in this world anymore. _This_ is bullshit!she exclaimed bitterly.

_So that's what she's thinking_, he thought. She believed that she wasn't taking their situation serious, and that he didn't want to get involved with a girl. She thought that she was being irrational and immature. He rubbed his lips in discomfort. That wasn't particularly the problem. It was _more_ that he'd never been with a girl like Beth.

Of course had been with girls and women but that had been different. None of them ever had considered him as a boyfriend. And at least he thought so Beth Greene wasn't the kind of girl would kiss a boy she wasn't emotionally involved with. The truth was: He was scared. He was scared because she wasn't just a casual love-interest to him. He wouldn't particularly say that had ever considered her to be his girlfriend. _For god's sake, she's a kid!_ But he realized how preoccupied he had lately been with her.

What scared him most was the fact that he had even gotten more involved with her since the kiss. Frankly, he hadn't thought about much else, even the hunger pangs and the fear for their lives had become less present in the last hours.

"Beth...he started but stopped because he didn't know what to say.

She didn't reply and the heavy sobbing that shook her slender body made him feel desperate. He raised his hands in distress and the only thing that came to his mind was to put his arms around her and hug her. He wanted to tell her how he felt about her. But he was lost for words.

**xxx**

He didn't know how much time had passed. It felt like hours, but it was still dark. Beth had curled up in his lap, her face hid under her pale hair. She had finally calmed down. He knew her crying hadn't only been about him. It had been about everything that had happened to her in the last weeks. Their fight and the _incident_ had only capped it all off.

And when she finally spoke he was happy to hear her voice.

"Daryl?she asked hoarsely.

He cleared his throat.

"Yeah?"

"I was... just wondering... How old are you?"

He stared at her, an puzzled expression on his face. What an odd question in that very moment.

"I err.. I'm 32,he replied wondering how she might react to this.

She sniffed.

"Okay,she murmured and fell silent again.


	7. The House

**Hey guys! So I know I said I would update on friday and now it's sunday but this chapter is really long. Actually I wanted to split it into two, but I kind of think it should be one chapter. I really wanted to update the story before the finale tonight and I hope my inspiration won't go down the hill because of it. :/ I'm so excited!**

**An now, enjoy the chapter. :)**

**Warnings: Violence**

**6.**

**The House**

It was before dawn when they got up to set off to the city. Neither of them had slept and Beth knew, that her only chance to survive was to quickly find a place where they could restock their supplies and sleep at least for one night. The lack of rest and food had totally exhausted her, and the emotional overload she had recently been confronted with had made it even worse. And even though Daryl had tried to make it all good she felt farther away from him than ever. She knew they could never go back to as it was _before_.

They had walked a couple of miles and none of them had said a word. For the first time since the prison had fallen, Beth was happy about Daryl being so **uncommunicative. She was lost in her thoughts and she had barely ever felt that miserable. Not only because she felt disgraced but the incident had sparked a painful self-doubt in herself. Did she really overrate herself, as he had told her? Had she been selfish? Why had she even thought he would want her? The pangs in her stomach started to increase again. He was a grown man, he was strong and smart and she was certain, that none of the people in the prison had ever made it without him. Everybody owed him their lives. **

**And she was just a girl, a weak kid that was too stupid to even survive one day on her own. Why would someone like Daryl see something in her? She was so mad at herself it made her heart ache crazily. **

**Why had she never even tried to be like Maggie or Andrea? She had been a spoiled baby that had always let others take responsibility for her survival. And she thought she didn't even deserve to live. So many people had risked their lives for her and lots of them had died. Her self-doubt grew to a black hole in her stomach that seemed to devour every positive thinking. Oh how she hated herself for being as she was.**

**They had been walking for a while when they saw a sign that said: ****_Brookfield 5 miles_****. Daryl looked at her with an encouraging glance but when he saw her frown, he quickly turned around and continued his way. They went very slow, because Beth could barely focus on the street anymore. She was so tired that her vision got blurry and her legs started to tremble. She knew she wouldn't make it much farer, but she didn't want to complain. Not again. This time, she needed to stand it.**

**Suddenly Daryl stopped and pulled the bag from Beth's back. She felt to weak to protest, but she got even more angry at herself, because she had let him notice her weakness. She saw the concerned look on his face and angrily stared on the road as she continued her way. A while later she thought she was at the end of her ropes. She didn't want to walk one yard anymore, when he gripped her arm and pointed in the distance.**

**She lifted her head exhaustedly and saw a house. It was a beautiful, big domicile with large windows and a wide front porch. It was surrounded by a savaged but romantic looking lawn and she could spot a swing and a garden house.**

**Even though she felt miserable, the look of it made her mood brighten up a little bit.**

**"****It looks so peaceful," she murmed."**

**"****Let's check it out," Daryl said and headed towards the building. She collected her last strength an followed him. When they approached the home they saw that the ground floor windows were boarded up and the door was closed. The upper floor windows were intact and the curtains on the inside were pulled closed. Beth couldn't help herself feeling excited about the house. It looked beautiful and neat and she hoped that nobody had already swept it. Maybe there were even people living there who would help them... But she turned that thought away quickly. Other people meant possible danger, so she hoped the home was left.**

**Daryl carefully approached the front door and tried to open it. To her surprise the door swung open easily. He turned around to face her and she tried to look determined.**

**"****Let's go!" she said.**

**She turned around to cover him as they had grown used to and checked out their behind. Daryl silently entered the hallway, his crossbow at the ready. The house lay in silence. He raised his hand and thumbed the wall. Nothing happened.**

**After a while he lowered his crossbow and said: "I don't think there are walkers inside."**

**She nodded, entered the hall and closed the door.**

**"****This place is so clean," she said.**

**They silently walked through the hall and quickly found the kitchen. Without a word they lunged at the drawers and cupboards and searched them for food. Beth let out a small squeal, when she found a cabinet that was filled with cans and jars. Daryl was next to her within a second and grabbed a glass with preserved plums. Without a word he opened it and popped the plums into his mouth. Beth only hesitated for a second and took a jar with green beans. She didn't even care for a fork, she was so starved the only thing she could think about was food. She devoured the whole can and thought that nothing she ever ate had tasted so well. She rummaged the cupboard when she found a can with chili con carne. She stared at in with surprise.**

**"****Oh my god Daryl, look what they have here! This is real chili! And it's still good!"**

**Daryl didn't reply but started to search the drawers for a can opener. When he finally found it, he opened it and she picked out two forks. They devoured the chili in silence and when they finished one of them felt even slightly saturated. They ate another couple of cans with fruit and vegetables and although Beth wanted to eat even more, she thought they should stop their feast and think things through.**

**"****Wait," she said, when Daryl reached for another can. "The food maybe belongs to someone."**

**"****Yeah," he replied. "Right now it belongs to us."**

**"****No, Daryl, wait!" she protested. "It's not fair. We can't just eat it all."**

**He sighed. "Okay, but we will take some for later."**

**She nodded slowly. "Yeah we should do so."**

**"****Let's check out the rest of the house first. Never know what's in here."**

**She agreed, reached for the cans and started to search the floor units. He furrowed his brows at her.**

**"****What 'r you doin'?"**

**"****Looking for a trash can," she replied.**

**"****A what?" he asked with amusement.**

**"****Look, that place isn't so clean because the owners toss their trash on the ground, ok?" She opened another cabinet that contained a bin. She opened it and saw that someone even had attached a plastic bag to it.**

**"****Wow," she made in surprise. "I think there's still somebody living her."**

**"****Hm" he made. They exchanged a concerned look. Who ever lived here may be about to return – and they didn't know if they where friendly.**

**"****Let's go." He said and made his way back to the hall. **

**Before entering the kitchen Beth had been blind with hunger, but now she was stunned by the beauty of the home. It probably belonged to people who had been pretty rich before. On the other side of the hall was a big living room with a real chimney and a giant flat screen. It was dusky inside the house because the windows were largely boarded up, but it was bright enough to search the room. The furniture was all white and posh and there were plenty of photos attached to the walls. Beth walked along the walls and looked at the people on the photo's. Almost all of them showed a man and a woman who were probably in their forties and a boy that was about ten. Some other photo's displayed the family together with and elderly couple that were probably the parents of either the man or the woman. There was also a wedding photo and some pictures in which the boy was still a baby. **

**"****Daryl swept some drawers and pulled out some battery packs but didn't find anything else.**

**"****Nothin' useful in 'ere," Daryl said and urged her to search the other rooms. Beth reluctantly turned away from the photos but she thought that she could maybe return later.**

**There was another room on the ground floor that contained a library. **

**"****Awesome!" she gasped when she saw the large book shelves and the neat reading chairs and chaise longue. A piano stood in one corner and Beth couldn't resist touching it.**

**"****Let's check out the upper floor," Daryl proposed.**

**The second story was as clean and neat as the lower floor. There was a large bedroom upstairs with a walk in closet and another flat screen TV. On the other side of the hall was a big and clean bathroom, a child's room and a spare room that was mostly empty. The children's room contained plenty of toys and a fancy computer. Beth strolled through the room while Daryl checked out the walk-in closet.**

**She opened the curtains and let some light flood through the chamber. There were more photo's on the wall and some movie posters. The whole building looked like a film set and Beth wondered where the inhabitants were. They would probably be pretty shocked when they saw some savaged strangers rummaging through their home. She glanced around the room and suddenly spotted and iPod which was laying on the desk. She picked it up and tried to turn it on even though she didn't expect it to work. She gaped when the screen started to shine. She thought about what she should do with it for a moment and then put it in her pocket. She didn't intend to steal it, but if they would stay a little longer she wanted to check out the music on it.**

**She left the children's room and joined Daryl.**

**The closet was big and full of clean and neat clothes.**

**"****Holy god, look at the shoes!" she exclaimed. "And the coats."**

**"****Some rich fuckers livin' here," Daryl replied.**

**"****Whoa..." she made when she found a full-length evening gown. "Did you find anything useful?"**

**"****Nah, not really," he replied. "Only some ammo, but no gun."**

**"****But oh my good, look at that," she giggled. "I found something that'd perfectly suit you!" She pulled out a "Harvard" sweater and shoved it at Daryl. He frowned at it and tossed it back to her.**

**"****Nah, thanks," he said but sounded less grumpy.**

**"****Come on," she sighed but then fell silent again. She had been very jaunty because the house felt like a dream come true but now she remembered everything that had happened.**

**"****What do we do?" she asked less cocky.**

**"****Not sure," he shrugged. It was tempting to stay at the house for the day and catch up on some sleep. On the other hand they didn't know when or if the owners returned. Beth look at the big comfy bed with desire.**

**"****It seems to be just a family..." she suggested.**

**"****You don't know who's with them."**

**"****Well it doesn't look as if i criminal gang is lodging, does it? If someone's staying with them they're as clean and neat as they are." **

**Suddenly she had to think about the farm. Actually she thought she had gotten over losing the home where she grew up, but this home reminded her of it. Their house had stayed clean and neat even after the apocalypse. She didn't believe the people who were living here were a dangerous lot. **

**"****Let's stay, just for the day! Or maybe the night if they won't return until tonight."**

**For the first time since the ****_incident_**** the other day she looked him in the eyes. They were surrounded by dark circles and he looked exhausted and worn out. He sighed and nodded slightly.**

**"****I'll block the door," he said and went downstairs.**

**She let her backpack fall on the ground, kicked off her boots and collapsed onto the bed. Before she could gather another thought she fell asleep.**

**xxx**

**When Daryl woke up, it was dark and he was slightly confused. It took him a few seconds to realize where he was. He listened to the silence of the house, wondering how late it was. Beth was lying next to him, breathing steadily. He waited until his eyes grew used to the darkness and watched her for a while.**

**She looked scruffy and savaged just as he did but the frown had left her face in sleep and she looked peaceful and relaxed. He sighed internally. He had just been totally overextended with the recent events and she had sparked something in him that he couldn't explain to himself. ****_Of course you can, you have fallen for her._**** He shook the thought away. He had never fallen for a girl. Not in that way. He rolled on his back and stared at the ceiling. She had been so broken the other day and it had hurt him to see her like that. Now that he had slept for a while he felt more able to give thoughts to the matter. He had really been a dick when he had refused her and he had done it in a really crappy way.**

**Why had he even done it in the first place? He had been scared hadn't he? He had been scared, because he didn't want to show any feelings to her. He turned his head to look at her. Yes, he ****_had_**** feelings for her. But he didn't dare to let her know. He swallowed hard as he felt the urge to pull her into his arms. He had never felt that way before and it utterly confused him. He turned around and propped himself on his elbows. Her dirty yet pale skin was glooming in the dark and her hair fell over the cushions on soft waves. He couldn't resist the urge to touch it, reached out with his free hand and played with the soft strands.**

**But then he realized how creepy it was and he withdrew his hand quickly.**

**There was no way in telling her.**

**xxx**

Beth woke up in the early morning of the next day. She could tell by the dim light that softly gleamed through the white curtains that the sun was dawning.. She turned her head to find Daryl still asleep face turned away from her, so she got up quietly and headed for the bathroom. When she closed the door behind her she realized that her intention to use the toilet had been pretty stupid since there was no running water. She sighed at the thought of peeing in the open but then her gaze fixed on a bucket that was standing next to the toilet. She got closer ans saw that it was half-full with water. Her face brightened up. The people who lived here were really clever.

She used the toilet and flushed it with the water from the bucket. She was delighted by the luxury of using toilet paper and had to suppress a happy giggle. For a moment she considered to have a quick wash, but she needed to find new water first. Maybe there was something on the outside, like in a rain barrel, but she wanted to wait until Daryl woke up.

She quietly left the bathroom and headed downstairs to the library. It was as if this room was calling for her, the books, the piano. It was so peaceful and beautiful and a reminder on better times. Now that she physically recovered a little bit from the stress of the previous days, she thought she could take some time to let her mind rest, too. She browsed the bookshelves for a while but already knew that she wouldn't end up reading. What she was really interested in was the piano.

It had been a while – a long while – since she had last played it and she really wanted to try it. She hesitated for a moment, because she didn't want to disturb Daryl but then she thought that he had slept long enough, also it was a nice way to be woken by the sound of a piano – at least if she'd still be able to play it properly.

She smiled when she sat down and carefully lifted the cover. Her finger ran gently over the keys and browsed her mind for a proper song. When she played the first chord, she closed her eyes and enjoyed.

xxx

Daryl was woken by the sound of music. At first he didn't know where it was coming from, when he remembered the piano. He glanced at the empty space on the bed next to him and wondered when Beth had gotten up. He listened to the music for a while until he decided to get up. When he climbed out of bed he heard that she had started to sing and smirked.

Silently he climbed down the stairs and remained in the entrance to the library. She turned her back towards him and probably didn't realize that he had entered the room.

"_...__There is a house built out of stone__  
__Wooden floors, walls and window sills...__  
__Tables and chairs worn by all of the dust...__  
__This is a place where I don't feel alone__  
__This is a place where I feel at home..."_

When she finished the verse Daryl decided that it would be too creepy to watch her any longer without letting her know that he was there so he cleared his throat. She winced and slammed her fingers down on the keys which produced a row of dissonances.

"Dear Lord, why would you do that?" she asked and turned around, her face slightly flushed.

"Err.. sorry," he replied, slowly walked over to the chaise longue and casually dropped on it. "Won't ya go ahead?"

"I thought my singing annoyed you?"

He shrugged.

"There ain't no jukebox, so..."

She bit her lower lip.

"Yeah well... Maybe after breakfast."

"Ah, breakfast, what a heavenly thing," he joked and rose from the chair.

They walked over to the kitchen and she picked some crackers and fruit from the cupboards.

The breakfast passed in silence and it felt still awkward between them..

"Where do you actually think the people who live here are?" Beth suddenly asked.

Daryl shrugged.

"Dunno..."

"I mean, they have so many supplies, even water to flush the toilet and it's so neat and clean. It doesn't look is if they left."

"Yeah..."

"I hope they won't be mad at us, when they return."

He didn't answer but darted an odd look towards her.

They fell silent again and Daryl wondered about what they should do next. Clearly this house was inhabited and he didn't want to get into trouble with the owners, but on the other hand it was really tempting to stay, at least until they returned.

"Maybe we could stay for a while, at least until the owners return," Beth proposed and he had to smirk.

"What?" she asked.

"Ye just said what I was thinkin'," he replied.

She beamed at him shyly.

"We could rest for another day or so, and if they don't come back by the night maybe sleep here. And tomorrow we can go to the city and stock up the supplies."

He nodded.

"Fair enough."

Another moment of silence passed and he felt it getting awkward again between them.

"Uhm...," she started. "I think there must be a rain barrel or something on the outside... We could check it out and wash up."

He nodded and got up, glad to have something to do.

xxx

Beth felt as if she was in heaven. This house had turned out to be a real lucky find. They had quickly found a big rain barrel on the outside and had carried several buckets of clean water upstairs and poured it into the big bathing tub. Beth had swept the cabinets in the bathroom and found soap and shampoo. And several packs of still sealed toothbrushes.

Daryl had told her, that he would watch the surroundings while she could clean up and she was very grateful for it. She soaked her hair and body in the cold water, but didn't mind the temperature because she was so happy about rubbing the soap into her skin and she just didn't want to cease the feeling of being clean. When she had washed her whole body the water in the tub had become pretty dirty and she decided to let it drain off and fetch new water for Daryl.

She stepped out off the bathroom and into the walk in closet rubbing her hair dry with a towel. She now browsed the shelves more carefully than she had done the other day and decided to take some of the clothes. When she pulled open a drawer she found it to be filled with neatly folded panties and she bit her lips in excitement. _New panties._

She didn't bother that they belonged to someone else, because her own one... she shoved the thought of it away, because she found it gross. She put on a black cotton brief, it was a little big to big for her, but it fit well enough. She pulled out two more and sneaked them in her back. She wanted at least to have some in stock when they were forced on the road again. After that, she tried on one of the bra's but it was to big for her. But she didn't need a bra anyway. She picked out a pair of jeans, a tank top and a cropped sweater. All of the clothes were slightly too big for her, but did fit well enough. When she was fully dressed she also took another pair of pants, some tank tops and a lined jacket and stuffed them into her backpack. She felt as a thief, but those people had so many things, they would probably barely miss any of it. She put on her boots to walk downstairs. Daryl had relocated the wardrobe he had put in front of the door for the night and leaned against the railing of the porch. She joined him and he looked down on her.

He whistled played amazement and said, "Neat."

She shrugged and smiled.

"We gotta need to fetch some more water, I had to drain the rest of it."

He nodded.

"Yeah, couldn't even remember how ye look without dirt on ya face."

"Same goes for me," she replied.

She helped him to carry some more buckets upstairs and then returned to the front porch. He had drawn the crossbow for her, so she could fire it if anybody or anything threatening approached.

When Daryl left, she sat down on the door steps and carefully watched the surroundings. The position of the house wasn't the best one considered the house as a place to stay. It was pretty much exposed and could be easily seen from the road. On the other hand, this was only a problem concerning other people passing by that could approach the house for the same reasons they had done. Concerning walkers it was a pretty good position, since they could easily see them. On the left was a narrow dirt road that let to the main street, in the distance on the right was the treeline of the forest. Beth chewed on her lips in concentration. Where were the inhabitants of this home?

She descended the door steps and examined the house from the outside. Yesterday she had been so exhausted, she had barely noticed any detail. At the end of the dirt road was a parking position for a car and a garage. A large silver Landrover was parked in front of it. She opened the front door and saw that the key was in the ignition. It made her wonder even more. All three inhabitants seemed to have left on food, didn't take anything with them, and left the door unlocked.

She closed the door of the car and encircled the building after checking once again if somebody was in sight. The lawn on the back of the house was hedged by a solid wooden fence. Beth opened the gate and stepped into the backyard. On the left was the garden shed she had already noticed the other day on the right stood a big oak. In front of it lay three bodies. She didn't need to step closer to know who it was. So the mystery where the inhabitants had gone to had been solved.

She swallowed hard and approached the corpses carefully. The boy was the first she recognized. His face was turned towards her and on first sight she couldn't see any injury that may have caused his death. His face looked peaceful and young, yet she saw a hint of pubescence on his features. Involuntarily she had to think of Carl and felt a lump forming in her throat. A puddle of blood surrounded him and then she saw that someone had stuck a knife into the back of his head. An empty box that once had contained sleeping pills lay a few feet away.

The woman lay next to him, her arms streched out towards the boy as if she wanted to hug him. Her skull was burst and one could hardly recognize her face anymore. The man lay a few feet away from them, the gun still in his hand. His head was cracked as well and he didn't have a face anymore, since he had stuck the weapon through his mouth.

Beth felt tears choking on her, but she blinked them away. At least they had died of their own free will even though she didn't understand why they had done it. She dropped to her knees and let the scene impact her. The day was bright and sunny and the sounds of nature surrounded them. It was sad but peaceful at the same time. She had to remember her own attempt on suicide and suddenly was determined that her decision on staying alive had been right. Those people probably didn't have anyone else to rely on than themselves, but she did. She had plenty of friends and even though she didn't know if they were still alive she loved them and wanted to protect them. She had to find them, her sister and Glenn, Carl, Judith... She was still alive for a reason and she was bent on staying it.

She lowered her head and looked away from the brutal scenery when she heard Daryl coughing slightly.

"Told ya to keep watch," he criticized her.

She took a moment to turn around.

He scowled at her, but she could see concern on his now clean face.

"I'm not crying anymore, Daryl," she said instead of a reply. "I don't want to die."

He nodded and reached out an arm to help her up. When she stood, he lay an arm around her should and pulled her into a hug. His action surprised her but she quickly gave in.

"I don't want to die," she repeated.

"You ain't gonna!" he murmured.

They stood in front of the oak for a while in silence each of them lost in their thoughts. When Daryl finally released his arm from her shoulder, she turned around to face him.

"I want to bury them," she said.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because it's right," she replied. "Their corpses shouldn't rot like that. Remember, they were once people. People who had a life and dreams and hope."

He sighed and nodded slightly.

"Still wanna stay?"

She sighed.

"At least for a while?" she suggested. "It would give their death a meaning."

"What d'ya mean?"

"This place can keep us alive for a spell. If they still lived we might not have gotten the opportunity to stay."

He nodded again.

"'Kay. Let's start."

xxx

**I want to make some explanatory notes on this chapter. It clearly is inspired by episode "Alone" even though I changed several things. The song is "To build a home" by The Cinematic Orchestra and this song has been the major inspiration to this fic. (Check it out!)**

**I also want to thank tumblr user "kinnus" for their list of cute Bethyl moments that should happen at some point because it was a big inspiration for me, too. (Here you go: **** post/80886384849/list-of-cute-bethyl-things-that-should-happen-at-some****)**

**This chapter was very important for me, because it kind of is the linchpin of the main story line. There are lots of things going to happen. :)**

**I'm curious for your opinions!**

**Oh, btw I'm going to do some minor editing like changing the names of the chapters and the layout of this story.**

**So, do you have any ideas or concerns about what's going to happen tonight?**


	8. The Boy

**Guys I already finished the next chapter. I was so inspired by all the TWD love that spreads all over the internet I just couldn't stop writing! Also I'm sick and I've got nothing else to do. ;) So this chapter is going to be a little sexy! I'm so curious about your opinions!**

**Warnings: Language**

**PS: I think has some trouble with the formatting of my docs... I don't know what do about that. So if the text is suddenly bold in the middle of the chapter it's not because I made it. :/**

**Enjoy!**

**7.**

**The Boy**

_I saw him first, beaten and broken by waves__**  
**__Straight away, I knew you'd try and convince that he could be saved__**  
**__So much to prove, you looked a state,__**  
**__It's not my fault that you listened to me__**  
**__When I told you that it was already too late_

It took several hours to dig the graves for the corpses. Beth had insisted on doing it herself, but had soon realized that it exceeded her physical strength, so Daryl took over. She had fetched some sheets from the house and carefully wrapped the corpses. When they were finally finished the sun stood low. Beth helped Daryl with closing the graves up.

When they stood in front of the fresh heaps of earth she let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm so glad we did this", she said looking up to Daryl.

He shrugged.

"What a waste of time."

"Come on, it wasn't," she countered indignantly. "We did the right thing."

He made an indefinable sound and walked back towards the house.

They spent the rest of the day securing the house as good as they could. They attached cords with garbage to the front porch and checked the boards on the windows. Then they closed the door and barricaded it with the wardrobe.

Beth fetched some candles and lit them in the kitchen. She cleared out the shelves and arranged the food on the table.

"It's enough for at least a week, maybe even more," she said. "If we ration it properly and do some hunting, we don't have to worry about food for the next two weeks."

Daryl leaned against the door and nodded.

"Still, we ain't gonna stay so long."

She sighed.

"We can take the car when we leave. I think it's working. Maybe we can catch up with the others."

"Hm."

She sat down and smiled at him shyly.

"Fancy some dinner?"

He nodded.

"Well, I have a surprise for you," she said teasingly. "Tonight we gonna eat with knife and fork."

Daryl laughed, when she removed two plates and flatware from the cupboard. They shared a can of ravioli and had some peaches for desert. When they finished Beth put the dishes in the sink and washed them off. Daryl watched her carefully. She put the plates in the dish drainer and turned around when she finished.

"So..." she started.

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"So err... What do you wanna do tonight?" she asked.

He sighed.

He could think of plenty of things he wanted to do but he didn't want to tell her one, because all of them kind of involved her and most of them weren't things a man should say to a girl. He rubbed his lips in discomfort and shrugged. Actually, he wanted to ask her to play the piano again, but he thought it would sound stupid if he did so.

"Maybe we can make a fire in the living room?" she suggested. "They even have logs here and it's kind of chilly and it'd be nice to sit around the fire wouldn't it?"

His mood brightened up a little. Why hadn't he thought of this earlier?

They carried the candles to the living room and he put some of the logs from the stash into the fireplace.

"We need somethin' to light it," he said. "Like paper."

Beth searched the room and found a pile of old magazines. She ripped some of the pages and handed them to Daryl. After a while the fire started to burn bright and it got cozy in the room.

They sat in silence for a while and stared into the flames. For the first time since a while, Daryl relaxed a bit. The place was secured, they were fed and had a pretty awesome place to sleep. He just wished it was different between the two of them. He watched her secretly and wished that he knew what was going on inside the beautiful head of her.

And again, he wondered how this girl had gotten him so messed up. She had made him bury the corpses of some poor fuckers that had killed themselves in their despair. Actually he still thought that it was bullshit and a waste of time, but she had wanted it so badly he hadn't been able to reject her wish. What a mess he was. A memory of his brother flashed trough his mind. Merle would have laughed at him for being like that. He would have told him to finally fuck the bitch and stop being such a pussy. He swallowed hard. Merle had been an idiot. He could never treat a girl like Beth the way his brother used to treat woman. She deserved better and sure she deserved better than him.

Her sweet and sad face looked so soft in the light of the fire and he was mesmerized by the way her eyes danced over the flames.

Suddenly she turned her head and stared him right in the eye.

"What?" she asked.

"Will you sing for me?" he replied and didn't even realize what he had just said until the words had left his mouth. He blinked a few times, puzzled by his sudden courage.

"You sure?" she asked.

He looked away and nodded.

"What do you want me to sing?" she inquired.

He shrugged and made an indefinable sound.

"Don't babble" she said. "Tell me."

"The errr... the song... ya know. From this morning. Wanna hear the rest of it."

She smiled shyly and got up.

The library was pretty cold after the warmth of the fire and Beth shivered slightly.

He lay down on the chaise longue and stretched his arms behind his head.

When she started to sing he stared at the ceiling not trying to watch her. He didn't want to admit to it, but he thought this was one of the most beautiful things he had ever done with another person. He couldn't remember anybody ever singing a song to him and especially not such a beautiful one. Her voice was coaxing and comforting and he liked the text. When she finished the passage he already knew, he listened closely to the rest of the song.

"_Cause, I built a home__  
__for you__  
__for me___

_Until it disappeared__  
__from me__  
__from you___

_And now, it's time to leave and turn to dust"_

She finished and let the last chords fade out. She didn't turn around and he saw that she lowered her head. He rubbed his lips in discomfort, because he thought she would cry again. But before he could come up with anything to say, she faced him with a sad smile on her lips.

"So, what do you think?"

"Uhm, errr.. It's ah... beautiful. But sad."

She nodded.

"Yeah... not the time for happy songs, huh?"

"I... eh... I'd like to hear a happy song."

She still smiled sadly.

"I can't think of one at the moment," she said quietly and stood up.

"I think I'm going to sleep."

He was surprised by her sudden break-up and considered wether he should follow her or not. When he heard her footsteps on the stairs he rose from the chaise longue and slowly followed her.

As soon as he entered the bedroom he saw her laying on the bed, her back facing him.

He watched her for a moment unsure what to say to her.

"Do ye... want me.. to stay with ye? Or shall I rather sleep in one of the other rooms?" he asked.

She turned around to face him, a puzzled look on her face but didn't reply immediately. She lowered her gaze from his and said, "Sleep here." It was only a whisper, but he heard the little plea in it. He sighed innerly and felt relieved. After kicking off his boots, he lay down next to her and watched her back. She rolled over and he stretched out his arms instinctively to pull her in a tight hug. When she buried her face in his shoulder he knew he wouldn't let go off her until the morning.

xxx

When she woke, he was gone. It was still early and pale light was glooming through the curtains. Beth rolled over and checked the room for a sign of him. His backpack stood fully packed on the floor, but the crossbow had disappeared. She sat up and listened to the silence of the house. Yesterday had been... sweet. It had been awkward, sad and sweet. It still confused her how things had developed between them. Surely their friendship had evolved into a deeper connection than friendship usually did. Still she wasn't sure if he was seeing it as some kind of romance or... _or what?_

If he wasn't interested in her in a way that was more than friendship why would he encourage her into a situation like that? She had sung a love song to him, a pretty sad one though, but a love song. And he had liked it, at least he said so. But he wouldn't have asked her in the first place if he wasn't interested in hearing the song. She rubbed her forehead in despair. How was she supposed to handle this situation? Daryl was different from everything she had ever considered making her fall for a man. But she _had_ fallen for him.

He was grumpy and monosyllabically, yet caring and lovingly in his own awkward way. He looked scruffy and intimidating, yet she found him sexy. She blushed by the thought of it. Sexy wasn't a word she'd usually use to characterize a crush of hers. Actually, sexy wasn't a word many woman would describe Daryl Dixon as. Still she thought he was.

"_But he is too old for you,"_ a nagging voice told her. She was indeed almost 20, but still he was more than 12 years older than her. And he probably still considered her a child. When they had met for the first time, she had been one. But over two years had passed since then and she had changed a lot. Was he able to see it?

If he wasn't, why would he lie in bed with her like he had done last night? But if he was, why had he backed off in the forest? _Maybe because it was not the right moment._ It had indeed been a very dumb idea. It had been nothing like she imagined a first kiss with anyone. Maybe he thought the same way.

_Bullshit._ Daryl Dixon didn't think about when to kiss a girl or not. She sighed heavily and buried her hands in her face. There was nothing she could do about it.

She stood up, brushed her teeth, got dressed and went downstairs. The front door was open and she could see Daryl sitting on the swing in the front garden. She wasn't sure if he wanted to talk to her right now, so she went to the kitchen and made herself breakfast. He had already opened a box of cereals and she took some of it. It tasted awful but she chewed on it carefully, happy to have any breakfast at all. She didn't want to think about leaving this place. She had already gotten so used to it, it was like a real home with the luxury of bathroom facilities and heating for cold night. Besides, she dreaded the imagination of sleeping on the ground again, of starving and thirst, of getting injured or sick or killed. When she heard him enter the hall she made some noise, so he'd know that she was awake. He entered the kitchen and she smiled at him.

"Morning, Mr. Dixon, did you sleep well?" She didn't know why she was being so playful, but it was a way to push her insecurity away.

"Yeah, you?" he made.

"I had a decent sleep, thanks for asking," she replied and giggled.

"What, 'r you makin' fun of me?" he asked with humour in his voice.

"I would never dare!" she replied in played horror.

He sat down at the table and watched her closely. She had realized that he'd been doing this the night before and she squirmed under his gaze.

"What?" she asked.

He shrugged as he always did.

"Jus' curious."

"You know what?" she suddenly said because she didn't understand his answer. "I'd love to live here. We could get married and have children and a dog, and then you could wear a nice suit and go to the office everyday. And I would do the laundry and the cooking and put the children to bed."

She smirked at his puzzled expression.

"And imagine how proud we'd be on our son when he'd finish High School. We'd do one of those fancy family photos, like my family did when Maggie and Shawn graduated. And we'd have lots of photos of our children lying naked on a blanket Oh and you could play tennis or golf or so and I'd visit a book club once week. Wouldn't that be awesome?"

He furrowed his brows in confusion not sure if she was serious about it.

"Ye'd like ya life to be like that?" he asked.

She shrugged.

"No, I suppose not. Just fun thinking of it. Like imagining how it'd be."

"Well, I liked the part with the suit." he smirked and she giggled.

"Yeah, I can totally see that."

They fell silent but this time it was less awkward. Every now and then they would look at each other and laugh about her strange fantasy. When she finished her breakfast he tossed her bowl in the sink and asked, "Wanna do some serious stuff today?"

"Serious, like what?"

"Like practicing that bow of your's."

Her smile dropped and she sighed.

"Not particularly."

"We're gonna do it though." She frowned at him, but it was half played.

"Okay, I yield."

She fetched her weapon and together they left the house. He arranged the garden table in front of the porch so they could use it as a shooting stand and placed several cans on it. She had some trouble remembering everything he taught her earlier but recollected it quickly. Still she had some difficulties with drawing the bow but this time she wouldn't let him help her. It was frustrating how little she succeeded, but on the other hand she had the impression that she made some progress.

After a while her arms and shoulders started to ache and they had a little break. They sat down on the garden table and glanced over the lawn. The sky was clouded and the day was overall pretty grey but the temperature was moderate and for the first time since a while she enjoyed being on the outside. Maybe it was because she knew she would be able to curl up in a comfy bed during the night instead of lying in the dirt. She suddenly felt Daryl stiffen next to her. Alerted she glanced up but couldn't make anything out in the distance.

"What is it?" she asked alarmed.

"There..." he pointed towards the tree line.

She squinted her eyes in concentration and then she saw it. There was a person approaching, it limped but seemed to be in a hurry.

"It's not a walker, isn't it?" she said when Daryl jumped from the table and raised his crossbow.

"Don't think so," he said.

She got up as well and lay a hand on her knife. The figure seemed to have noticed them, since it changed direction and quickly headed towards them arms raised up in the air.

Beth could now see that it was a boy, or rather a young man at her age. When he was about 100 yards away, he raised his hands higher and shouted, "Hey! Hey, don't shoot! Please!"

Daryl didn't lower his crossbow, but Beth could see that the boy was unarmed. He limped and was pretty dirty. His clothes were overall filthy and stained with blood and dried blood clung to his hands an face.

"Daryl," she said quietly. "He's no danger."

Daryl jerked his head in her direction as if he wanted to tell her to back off but he didn't say anything.

"Please!" the guy shouted again and stumbled nearer. "Please! I need help."

Beth swallowed hard. He looked awful and desperate and she instantly remembered how she had felt only two days ago.

"Daryl we need to help him," she exclaimed but when she got ready to approach the boy he reached out an arm and held her back.

"Who are ye?" he shouted at the boy.

"Name's Rupert," the other male replied. "I'm alone, I have no weapons. Please don't shoot."

"Stand back!" Daryl told him and when the boy stopped, arms still raised up in the air he lowered the crossbow.

"Where 'r ye comin' from?" he inquired.

The boy panted heavily and Beth pitied him. He looked so sad and desperate.

"I... I was with a group of people... But our camp got overrun a few days ago. I... I think... I'm the only survivor."

"Did ye get bitten?"

He shook his head.

"No... I just ran into some barbet wire and messed up my leg pretty bad."

Beth saw that his pants were dark and soaked with blood.

"Daryl," she whispered. "Have empathy. He's desperate."

"Please!" the boy said again and she could see that he was crying.

She quickly glanced up to Daryl and when she saw that he wasn't determined to chase the guy away, she quickly took some steps forward and offered him a hand.

"Don't worry, we'll help you."

xxx

Beth quietly closed the door to the guest room on the third floor. Rupert was finally sleeping and she felt the rush of adrenalin in her blood decrease. His leg was badly injured and infected. Luckily she had found some tetanus injections in the med kit in the bathroom and even though Daryl had protested she had given one to Rupert. She had helped him to clean and dress his wounds and then she had brought him something to eat.

Daryl had been overall grumpy and seemed to disagree with her as a matter of principle. After a while she had gotten pretty mad at him and told him to either shut up or back off and since then she hadn't seen him anymore even though she knew he was around and watched them.

Now she exhaled deeply and rubbed her eyes in despair. From one second to another everything had changed again and they would need to work out another plan. She walked over to the large bedroom to find Daryl propped on the bed his boots still on and his crossbow lying next to him. She scowled at him.

"You could at least take the shoes off in bed," she said. She knew it would provoke him but she was still pretty mad at him.

"Don't be a bitch again," he replied hostile and she felt her cheeks flush in anger at the insult.

"Don't be a jerk again," she told him. "What's your problem?"

"Problem is, we had a pretty secure place and ye invited a stranger over to fool around with."

"Stop talking such a bullshit," she hissed.

"We don't know nothin' about this guy. What if he has friends? Armed friends? Who'd fancy a nice place like that?"

"And how would he let his armed friends know where he is?" she snapped back. "As you may have noticed he's half dead and injured and phones stopped working a while ago."

He made an uncertain move with his hand but remained staring at her angrily.

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Why are you making it so difficult Daryl? He's just a boy. Let him rest for a while."

"Why are ye so naïve, Beth? Ye should know better!"

She folded her arms over her chest.

"If I didn't know better I'd say you're jealous."

She saw his expression darken and knew that she hit a nerve.

"Stop talkin' shit all the time," he growled.

She sighed irritated.

"Stop behaving like a child."

"Yeah ye wanna tell me I behave like a child?" He got up and approached her in a way that she found threatening. "I ain't the one to cry like a baby for every piece of shit on this planet. I ain't the one to nag about every fuckin' bullshit that gets in m' way."

"Woah, why would you do that?" she hissed at him.

"Why would I do wha'?" she snarled back.

"Just... being like that? You're fucking jealous and you take it all out on me."

"Talkin' shit again."

"I'm not! You're such an idiot. He's just some guy and he's not a threat at all!"

Daryl turned around and jerked his hand in her direction as if he wanted to tell her to shut up.

"Why don't you just admit to it?"

"Admit to what?"

"You have feelings for me."

Silence. She felt her heart pounding in her chest. She knew she pushed her luck but she thought it was worth a try. There was no way in making it more awkward between them so she thought it was wisest to try to clear things up.

"I ain't." he said after a minute of calm.

"Yeah you do," she replied even though she wasn't sure if she could push him that far.

He shook is head in an awkward motion yet didn't turn around to face her.

"Why did you make me play the piano?"

"Wha's tha' gotta do with everythin'?" he avoided her question.

"Just tell me, why?"

He shrugged.

"I'd wanted to listen to some music."

"Why did you make me play that song then?"

"Wha' song?" he asked.

"Don't play stupid Daryl. The song I sang for you. You could've asked me to play just any song, but you wanted to listen to this one."

He shrugged again.

"What you wanna hear? Stop naggin' me with your bitchin' questions."

"I wanna hear the truth, Daryl" she replied and she knew her voice was trembling. It was either now or never.

He faced her again and she bit her lower lip.

He didn't reply but answered with a question. "Why did ye wan' me to sleep next to ye las' night?"

She took a deep breath.

"I asked you first so you go first."

His eyes flickered over her face and she saw his expression softening. He opened his mouth once or twice groping for the right words. But then he shrugged again.

"Dunno."

"Really?" she asked in a high-pitched tone.

Instead of a reply he made two big steps towards her standing close to her. She looked up searching his face for a hint. His expression was lost and desperate and she could see him struggling for words. She grasped one of his hands.

"Will it be easier, if I'll go first?" she asked softly, her heart pounding heavily in her chest and butterflies rotating in her stomach.

He gave her a quick nod.

She held his hand tighter and he returned the grip.

She looked him deep in the eye.

"I... think... I developed feelings for you. Feelings that exceed... pure friendship." He stared at her for a second and she was unable to read the expression on his face. Then he quickly lowered his head and pulled her into a long and soft kiss. She was taken by surprise but quickly closed her eyes and lay her arms around his neck to pull him close. Her head was swimming and she felt a little dizzy when he finally let her gasp for air. He didn't release her from his hug though and leaned his forehead against hers. They both panted a little.

"That's a way to express it though." she breathed and he lowered his lips on hers in agreement. They continued the snogging for a while when she finally broke the kiss panting for air heavily.

"It'd be more comfortable to lay down on the bed." she suggested. He made muffled sound and picked her up bridal style which made her squeal and giggle. He propped her on the bed and quickly crawled on top of her, searching her lips once more. She reached her arms around him and buried her hands in his hair. He drew a hand under her back and pulled her even closer. She pressed her body hard against his and a soft moan escaped her mouth. When their kisses started to become more sexy she reached out with one hand to pull on his shirt but he suddenly broke the kiss and grasped her hand.

"Don't," he murmured.

"Why not?" she replied trying to catch her breath.

"If we go any further, I won't be able to restrain myself anymore."

"So?" she mocked him.

"Beth, we can't," he breathed against her lips.

She groaned lightly.

"I'm not a virgin if that's what you're thinking!" she whispered. He grinned against her lips.

"It's what I was thinkin' but it ain't the reason. We need protection."

She gulped. How could she forget about this? She blushed slightly and looked away.

"Please, don't tease me anymore," he pleaded.

"I'm sorry," she said huskily. "I think we need to go to a drugstore tomorrow."

xxx

**So? What do you think? Is Rupert really who he says he is?**


	9. Intermission

**Hey guys, here's the next chapter! Thanks for your opinions! :)**

**So I don't want to spoil anyone, so if you didn't watch the finale yet, please skip the following passage!**

**xxx**

**SPOILERS**

**FML, is this even possible? I totally freaked out! I mean did you look at Daryl? It fucking broke my heart, how did that man change! And when Rick asked him about Beth... I wanted to rip my heart out... besides I loved Rick's development. He's gone badass! I really liked how tough he were even though it was pretty shocking at the same time. Whatsoever, I really don't know how I'm supposed to survive summer without knowing where Beth is... Probably continuing on writing is the only option.**

**xxx**

**Okay so now here's the next chapter! It's the last "sweet" one for now... There's pretty much action lying ahead. :) But I don't think I'll be able to update before the weekend, there's lots of work for me to do this week. :/**

**Enjoy!**

**7.**

**Intermission**

Neither of them had really slept that night. They had ended up in a mixture of cuddling, kissing and teasing each other and Beth thought it was about time when the morning finally came, because there were no excuses to stay in bed any longer. Not because she didn't enjoy it – rather because her lips started to get sore and besides the whole night had been a bittersweet torture that she couldn't bare any longer. When the morning light brightened the room she made an attempt on getting up.

"I have to look after Rupert," she said causing a frown on his face but he didn't stop her.

She put on some clothes and quickly brushed her hair, Daryl sat upright on the bed and watched her.

"We need t' talk this through," he suddenly said.

Beth raised her eyebrows at him in played surprise.

"What happened to you, Dixon?" she replied teasingly. "_You_ wanna talk?"

He smirked.

"I don't fancy it, jus' think it's necessary."

"So what do you propose?"

He sighed and shrugged.

"He can't stay with us."

"Why not?" she asked.

"We need t' leave soon."

Now it was her turn to sigh.

"Daryl, he's been injured badly. We can't just let him alone. He'll die."

"You dressed his wounds and even gave him some fuckin' precious medicine we'd better kept for ourselves. He can have some cans and then he can look after himself."

"But he's got no weapons, and he's all alone. If he won't die of his injuries he'll certainly die because there's no chance for anybody to survive without any armor or supplies."

Daryl shrugged again.

"Still, he can't stay with us" he insisted.

Beth rolled her eyes at him.

"How about we first get to know him a little before we decide?"

He frowned for a moment but then nodded reluctantly.

"I've locked his door for the night."

Beth rolled her eyes again. "What an overreaction."

She snatched the key from his hands, left the bedroom and crossed the hall to knock at the guest room's door. She let a moment of silence pass, when a weak voice from inside the room told her to come in.

"Good morning," she said.

Rupert had propped himself on his elbows and looked overall pale and exhausted. She reckoned he had lost a lot of blood and she could tell by the sweat on his forehead that he was having a temperature. She sat down next to him.

"How are you?"

He looked at her his eyes wide. She saw that he was afraid and confused.

"I er... I feel pretty sick" he replied, his voice trembling slightly.

"I'll fetch some paracetamol for you to reduce the fever."

He nodded and lay back on his cushions.

"Thanks."

She went to the bathroom and searched the med kit for the pills. Daryl showed up in the doorframe.

"Wastin' some more medicine?"

She scowled at him.

"Just stop it."

When she returned to the guest room, Daryl followed her, his crossbow casually thrown around his shoulders. Beth saw that Ruperts eyes widened in fear when he caught sight of Daryl.

"Just ignore him," Beth said kindly and shot a warning look towards the older man. "Here, drink up."

She handed the pills and a bottle of water to the boy and he swallowed it quickly.

"So Rupert, will you tell us what exactly happened to you?" she tried to let her question sound kind but determined.

"Ah errr..." she said. "I've already told ya... Our camp got overrun by walkers and probably everyone died, but me."

"Where was your camp?" Daryl asked.

Rupert's eyes scampered from Beth's face to Daryl.

"Ugh I don't know, I just ran. It was about a day's march away... maybe less, since I've been a little restricted..." he made a weak attempt on a smile.

"Why were you unarmed?" Daryl inquired.

"We got overrun man..." the younger man replied. "It went all so quick, I didn't even have the time to think things through. I mean I had a knife, but I must've lost it somewhere. Can't remember."

"Who were you with?"

"Look man, I'm no threat to you ok? I was just with a bunch of people, men, women, children... Nothing to worry about. They're dead anyways."

Daryl frowned and Beth tried to arbitrate between the two of them.

"Look, Rupert," she said. "We've just been through some serious stuff and we need to know if we can trust you."

"I told you already, I'm no threat to you."

"I believe you," she replied. "But still we need to get some things clear."

"I don't believe him," Daryl interfered.

She rolled her eyes at him in frustration.

"Can you just leave it for a moment?" she asked irritated.

"So Rupert, tell us how did ya get injured?" the older male ignored her.

"I ran into some barbet wire."

"Where?"

"I don't know, somewhere in the forest. Why does it matter?"

"I know guys like ye," Daryl replied. "I've been hangin' 'round with'em my whole life. Ye're lyin' and lyin' to get ya ass saved and when we turn our back towards ye, ye'll stab us with our own knives."

Rupert's face grew even paler than it was before.

"What are you talkin' about?" he asked. "No, that's not true! I'm not like that! I... I didn't..."

"I've heard enough," Daryl interrupted him. "Ye can talk to him if ye wanna, but I don't need t' hear no more."

He turned around and left the room. Beth gaped at the open door for a moment and then returned to face the younger man.

He stared at her, fear in his eyes but when he saw her mild smile hope flickered in his eyes.

"Please, believe me... I'm not dangerous."

"We'll see, I suppose," she replied.

"Don't let me die, please!" he begged and she pitied him.

"Surely we won't do that. He.. errr..." she hesitated. "He's just a little grumpy sometimes."

A moment of silence passed.

"Is he... your boyfriend?"

Beth felt her cheeks flush.

"Err, I... Yes... no... I don't know." She didn't even know why she answered his questions since it was none of his business, so she stood up quickly.

"I'm... sorry," Rupert said. "I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay," she interrupted him, face turned away. "I'll look after you later."

She paused for a moment.

"I think I'll need to lock your door."

"Do whatever you want, man." Rupert sighed.

She left the room and locked it. Was Daryl right? Was the guy lying? She found his story plausible, yet she had to admit that he was sparing with information. But even if he was lying – he was badly injured and unarmed and how could he even threaten them? She went to the kitchen where Daryl was chewing on some cereal that he ate directly from the box.

"Why don't you take a bowl?" she asked but then grabbed the box herself and poured some cereal on her hand.

"We shoul' go for a run t'day and leave tomorrow in the mornin'" Daryl replied.

She sighed.

"I say we go for a run tomorrow and leave the day after."

He scowled at her. "Why?"

"Then he can rest for another day. If you're really determined to leave him behind, he should at least regather some strength before he's on his own again."

"I tell you what; that guy's no good. He'll get us into trouble."

"He's half dead and locked in his room."

"Why do you even care 'bout him?"

She looked away.

"The day Rick showed up on our front porch, his half–dead son in his arms, we didn't send him away."

"That was different."

"It was by no means different and I still have faith in humanity."

He made an uncertain noise and shrugged.

"There's still good people, Daryl."

He snorted. "I don't think the good ones survive."

"Yeah they do. I do. _You_ do."

He stared at her for a moment but didn't reply. Instead he put some more cereals into his mouth.

"Come on, let's go hunting today. Then we can stay close and watch him." She winked.

He gave her a quick smile.

"If needs must."

She beamed at him. "See? There's still good people."

xxx

By dusk Daryl had hunted down a rabbit and two squirrels and he showed Beth how to skin and paunch them. He knew she didn't like it but he was proud on her because she tried.

He still couldn't quite understand what had happened last night, but somehow he felt it had made things easier. Her sanguinity was catching and even though he didn't trust the boy, it gave him hope to see how hard she tried to make things good. They cooked the animals over the fire in the chimney and he thought that it tasted awesome. When they finished their meal, Beth told him that she would bring the guy some food. He let her do so, but told her to let the door stay open, just in case.

His back leaned against the couch he recalled the events of the last night. Again she had succeeded in pushing him to a point he had never gone to without her. And he still didn't understand why she made him do things like that. Of course had made out with girls before but it had never had anything to do with feelings. It hadn't been romantic. _Romantic._ Instinctively he had to laugh at himself. Romance, what a bullshit. Still, he couldn't decline it. He had fallen for her and she made his head all dizzy. It was not as if she was the only girl to ever have fallen for him. But he had never let anyone close enough to tell him. Maybe it was because he was afraid of getting hurt. Or maybe, because everyone he knew had told him that love was bullshit and only for weak people.

His friends had treated women like shit anyway. Not that he had been any better.

He sighed and wondered if he could do better this time. The thought of her made his heart skip little beats. But he was also afraid of hurting her. He rubbed his lips deep in thought when he suddenly heard her soft giggle. He raised his head and tried to listen to their conversation, but could only hear muffled voices. He got up to check what they were doing. When he walked up the stairs he heard her say, "We lived in a prison. We had pigs and chicken and beds. Actually... it was pretty awesome."

"And how did you secure the place?" Rupert asked her.

How could she tell him thing like that? He took the last steps quickly and rushed into the guest room.

Rupert jumped at his sight but Beth beamed at him. However, her smile dropped quickly when she saw the expression on his face.

"What is wrong with you?" she asked.

"Don't tell him anything. Come now." he grabbed her arm to pull her out of the room.

"Hey!" she said. "Relax!"

"Hey man, she didn't do anythin', we were just chattin'." Rupert tried to interfere.

"Ye keep yer mouth shut," Daryl snarled at the younger man. He pulled Beth out of the room and pulled the door shut.

"Why would ye tell him anythin' about the prison?" he blamed her. "What else did ye tell'im?"

She gaped at him with an angry but hurt expression on her face.

"Why are you so mad at me? Like he said, we were just chatting."

"Beth, ye don' know that guy! Ye can't just tell him anythin'."

"It makes no difference whatsoever!" she snarled back. "The prison is gone!" She pushed past him and headed for the bedroom.

He sighed heavily. It seemed as if all of their conversations would finally end in an argument. He decided to give in to her this time. Maybe he was overreacting.

He followed her and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I didn'a want to shout at ya." She faced him, a hurt expression still drawing her face.

"Why are you always so petulant?" she asked.

He didn't know what she meant with the question so he just shook his head.

"I'm jus' tryin' to keep us alive."

She nodded slightly.

"I know. Thanks for that."

He drew her into a close hug.

"Let's go downstairs, sit a little more at the fire."

She smiled shyly.

"Yeah let's do it."

xxx

They lay on the hearthrug in front of the chimney, she was on her back and he propped himself in his elbow next to her. She had made him play a game, she had just invented, because she thought it was a nice time filler.

"Ok, it's a little bit like truth or dare, you know? But then it's different. Like, I'll ask you a question and then you answer, but you have to answer for me, ok? If you're wrong you get to ask the next question, if you're right I'll have to ask another one, ok?"

"See if I can handle tha'."

"Come on, it's fun. Besides we're not drunk, so..."

He smirked.

"Ok, ye go ahead."

"So... what's your favourite kind of music?"

"Ugh... tha's a difficult one for the start."

She giggled.

"Just try."

"Ugh hm... Dunno... Pop music?"

"Hell no!" she replied. "Now it's your turn."

"How do I know you ain't lyin'? he protested.

"You don't, just trust me." she beamed at him.

He scratched his neck.

"So... What's your favourite food?"

"Well... I'd kind of go for squirrels," she giggled. "But maybe it's rather... pizza?"

He shook his head and she sighed in played frustration.

"Ok, let's see. When was your first kiss?"

He stared at her closely.

"Sixteen."

She laughed again.

"You ain't got a clue Mr. Dixon."

"Tell me, how old were ye then?"

"That's not part of the game," she protested.

He scowled at her but she saw that he wasn't serious.

"Your turn."

"What would you like do most in this moment?"

She looked him deep in the eye as if she was looking for a hint. She then bit her lower lip and swallowed hard.

"Kiss me?"

He smirked.

"Wrong."

"Oh come on, you can't be serious." she jabbed him in the ribs. "What is it then?"

"Can't tell ya, it's not part of the game."

She rolled over and pushed his shoulders to the ground.

"It's a rather stupid game. I don't want to play anymore."

"It's just because yer loosing."

She smirked playfully.

"No it's because I just made up another game," she teased and lowered her lips onto his.

xxx

**Any opinions?**

**Also do you have any idea what Rupert is up to?**


	10. Brookfield

**Hey guys! I's been a while, but I've been utterly busy... Well no, that's just a lame excuse... TBH, I had some real difficulties with this chapter and I must admit that I absolutely hate it. :/ I really suck at writing "thrilling" scenes and so it's totally boring and idk... I'm so sorry! The next chapter is going to be better, promise! I already started writing it and I think I'll update tomorrow or tuesday!**

**So forgive me! And enjoy whatsoever!**

**9.**

**Brookfield**

"He's still sleeping" Beth stated when she walked down the stairs. "I left some food and water for him. He still looks pretty bad."

Daryl nodded.

"Did ye lock the door? Wouldna' want him wandering 'round the house."

She rolled her eyes at him.

"Of course."

There was a moment of silence between them, as there often was. Beth kind of felt that they needed those moments of not talking so each of them could gather their thoughts. Still it was awkward to be with him, actually since the two last days it had gotten even more awkward than before. But at the same time it was much sweeter. She smiled.

"So... is there any plan on what we're going to do?" she asked.

"Uhm, we need gas for the car. And as many food supplies as we can put in that trunk." he replied.

She nodded. The thought of traveling in a car and not by foot made her feel less uncomfortable about leaving, still she got sad by the thought on never returning to the place again. The house had become some kind of turning point for her. Since the fall of the prison things had become worse and worse and when she had thought that she'd probably end on the road they had found this place. And with it, she had regained her faith and hope. She sighed internally and shoved the thought away. They would only leave by tomorrow and tomorrow was far away.

"We need some things from the pharmacy, too," she said. "There's barely any dressing material and disinfectant left ."

"'kay. You ready t' go?"

She hefted her rucksack on her back and grabbed the bow.

"Still not sure if I'll ever be able to handle that thing."

He laughed roughly.

"Don' worry, ye will."

They walked over to the Landrover and tucked their luggage on the back seats. The car was as fancy as the house and contained GPS as well as a hi-fi system.

"Too bad we don't have any music," Beth said but just when the words left her mouth she remembered the iPod.

"Oh Jesus! I totally forgot about that!" she exclaimed and started to rummage in her pockets.

Daryl looked confused but started the car. She pulled out the device and raised it triumphantly.

"Awesome!" she said and beamed at him.

"Well done, Greene" he replied as she connected the iPod to the hi-fi system.

He turned the car around and they headed towards the main road. She browsed the playlists to find that the device was not exactly stuffed with music. It just contained the latest album of Lady Gaga and various songs by the Beatles. She pouted at the player.

"I'll go for Beatles then," she said and Daryl made a noise of approval.

It was a short ride anyway and they reached a gas station about ten minutes later. It looked pretty shabby and there was lots of rubbish lying around. A few cars were parked around the place and they decided to check the tanks for fuel. Beth carefully searched through the rubbish until she finally found a piece of hose.

She brought it to Daryl who had forced the filler cap of a dusky pick-up open. She handed him the hose and collected an empty gas canister. When he sucked the air out of the hose, she grabbed her water bottle and handed it to him, so he could rinse his mouth. It wasn't much fuel left in the tank so they had to drain the tanks of two more cars. They acted in silence and Beth felt as if it was a routine. For the first time since a while she felt actually comfortable in silence with him.

When they finished refueling the tank, Beth looked at Daryl in question.

"Shall we check out the tank shop?"

Daryl glanced at the shop. The windows were all shattered and the entrance was blocked with garbage.

He shook is head.

"Nah, leave it. Better go to the city."

Beth nodded and headed for the car when he grabbed her arm.

"Hey, you 'kay?"

She looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Sure, why?"

He smiled.

"Just wanted to make sure."

xxx

"What a podunk town," Beth noted when they slowly drove down the main road of Brookfield.

"What did ya expect then?" Daryl asked but she just shrugged.

The shopping street mainly contained small stores and lots of parking spaces. At the end was a supermarket and Daryl stopped the car in front of the main entrance. The doors were broken down and there was lots of trash scattered all over the place. They left the car and carefully checked their surroundings. They didn't see or hear anything but Beth withdrew her knife nevertheless and Daryl held his crossbow at the ready. They took their bags and quietly made their way into the store.

The salesroom was dusky since there were no windows and only little light came in through the broken doors.

"Damn it," Daryl murmured. "A torch'd be helpful."

Beth felt her heartbeat increase by the thought of what might lure in the dark.

"We can use the headlights from the car," she whispered.

"Fair point," he replied and turned to the car to place it. When he turned on the lights, Beth held her breath. Now they had a better overview over the place and her hopes dropped immediately. Almost all of the racks were knocked over or swept and there was lots of trash on the ground. They needed a few moments to grow accustomed to the scene when they heard the familiar voice of a walker. Beth searched the salesroom for the source of the sound and spotted a body that was stuck under a rack. It stretched its arms out towards them and desperately tried to break free. Daryl casually withdrew his knife and walked over the thing to kill it. Beth followed him carefully and tried to spot any other danger. The light of the car made it a little easier to navigate between the broken racks but the play of light and shadows made her paranoid. She quickly searched through some garbage and collected two gauged cans – tuna. Their search was frustrating and they soon realized that they had to go further into the store if they wanted to find anything useful. When they passed the household department, Beth picked up a small notebook and instinctively stuffed it in her pocket. When they reached the pharmacy Beth's hope slightly raised. The shelves behind the counter were swept and there was broken glass everywhere, but the door to the store room was still locked.

She took a few steps toward the door and tried to open it, but as she had expected it was locked.

"Damn," she whispered, "What do we do now?"

"Need an axe or somethin'"

"What if the key's still around somewhere?"

Daryl shrugged and made an uncertain movements towards the desolated shop.

"Don't think ya gonna fin' anythin' in this mess. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Beth impatiently shifted from one leg to another.

"But there must be a way." Then her face brightened up. "There was a fire department on the other side of the village. Maybe we can find an axe there!"

"Fair point, Greene. What would I do without ya?"

She beamed at him and flushed slightly. He was flirting with her, at least she thought it was a Daryl-Dixon-way of flirting.

They quickly returned to the car and drove back to the fire department. It was less than a minute's drive and Beth felt excited when they found the building to be majorly intact. They circled the building, but the doors were closed and locked and the big gateways where the fire engines used to go through were to solid to break through. They decided to smash a window to get on the inside.

Daryl took a big stone and threw it through the glass. The sound of the shattering harshly spilt the silence and for a second Beth was expecting walkers to show up everywhere. But nothing happened. She helped Daryl to climb up to the window sill which was about 5 feet from the ground. He swung his legs to the inside and carefully peeked into the room. Then he turned around, gave her a quick nod and she handed him the weapons and the backpacks. Daryl dropped them on the other side and reached out a hand to help her climbing up.

When Beth jumped from the window sill to the inside of the fire department, she saw that they were in some kind of bureau. The tables were knocked over and there were some broken computers. And she saw blood.

"Looks as if there was a fight," she whispered. The trace of the blood led to the hall and through it to another room that was now locked. They exchanged a look when suddenly someone, or rather something started to bang against the locked door.

"Jesus!" Beth exclaimed and made a step backwards.

"Come on," Daryl said. "Let's find the storeroom."

They passed the door and went to the left. The hall was dim on the inside since there were no windows and they slowly made their way. After a while their way brightened up and they found an open door at the end of the hall. Beth thought it must be their lucky day, since the door directly led into the garage where two big fire engines were parked. Daryl quickly walked over to the first one and tried to open the storage capacity on the side of the truck, but it was locked.

They searched around the room for a tool so smash it, and Beth grabbed an iron pole which she handed him. He broke the lock and pulled up the shutter. Beth squealed on her inside when the saw the content of the panels. They were filled with tools and two small axes were attached to a hanger on the back plane. Daryl took one and additionally grabbed two hammers and a saw.

"Let's go," he breathed and they quickly made their way back to the hall. When they entered the corridor, they heard that the knocking and bumping had grown louder and the groaning of the walkers mixed in. They carefully passed the door and rushed to the bureau from which they had originally entered the building. Daryl quickly blocked the door with a table and Beth already jumped to the window sill, but when she swung one leg on the outside, she squealed and quickly withdrew it, because a couple of walkers had gathered around the space. When they heard her scream they started to approach.

"Fuck, they are on the outside," she whispered.

"How many?"

"Like ten or so."

Daryl stared at her for a moment and then sighed.

"Gonna try to shoot'em from here. Let's just hope the door's going to bear up."

Beth jumped from the window sill and Daryl took his crossbow. She wished she could help him and resolved to practice more with her bow. When the older man had taken down three from the walkers on the outside she heard the door from the bureau next to them crash. Her heart sank into her boots but she tried not to freak out and headed for the door, to check of it was properly secured. Only a few seconds later the walkers had reached it and tried to break in.

"Daryl?" she whispered.

"Need more bolts! In my bag."

She rummaged through his bag and withdrew the pack they had found in the hunting store in the woods. He quickly stashed the bolts and shot another walker on the outside. The banging on the door seemed to grow louder and after taking down another one he turned around to face her.

"Take your knife, we're gonna pop out."

They quickly threw the bags and tools out of the window and Daryl swung himself over the window sill to jump down. Just when Beth wanted to follow him, the door broke. She squealed and jumped in blind panic. A burning pain shot through her ankle when she hit the ground hard, but she didn't hesitate for a second to get up again and headed for the car. On her way she took two walkers down. Daryl was behind her and she opened the passengers door, when she saw more walkers approach from the backyard of the fire department. They were in the car and on the road again within a few second, bot breathing heavily.

"Fuck," Daryl muttered. "They'll probably follow us."

"Then hurry," Beth replied, her heart pounding in her chest.

He stopped the car in front of the shop and they rushed into the inside. It took Daryl some time to break the lock, and Beth nervously glanced towards the outside, but nobody was approaching the building. When the door finally swung open, Daryl raised his crossbow and slowly entered it. The room was clear of walkers and untouched. They looked at each other in triumph and entered. There were two small roof lights at the end of the room, it was dim but they could see enough.

"Wow," Beth breathed when she saw the amount of medicine that was available. She grabbed some dressing material and painkillers and then started to search through some antibiotics but she didn't know what most of them were for, so she mostly ignored them. Then she found disinfectant and stuffed it in her bag.

"Did you find anything?" she asked Daryl who searched another cupboard.

"I'd say so," he replied and showed her a bottle of morphine and some tetanus injections. She nodded and headed for the next cupboard. It contained mainly sanitary products and she almost considered skipping it, when she saw a deodorant.

"Awesome!" she gasped and stuffed it in her bag. She cursorily browsed the rest of the shelf and found a few packs of condoms. Her cheeks immediately flushed red when she remembered what she had said to him the other night. She took one of the packs. No, she couldn't seriously consider that. But on the other hand... who knew? But no, what would it look like to him if she'd...

"Hey!" he said and she clenched the pack in surprise, turned around and hid it behind her back. "Did you hear me?"

She shook her head.

"Sorry, I was a little distracted."

He nodded in confusion.

"Said we should get outta here if ye didn't find anythin' else."

"Sure," she said relieved that he didn't notice what she had just found and stuffed her haul into her bag. They quickly left the shop, not a minute to late. When they reached the car they saw a large group of walker approaching. After stashing their luggage in the car they quickly closed the doors and set off.

Beth breathed deeply when they passed the walking corpses her heart still pounding heavily. They made it.

She beamed at him.

"We're a good team, don't you think?" she said self confident.

He smiled back at her but didn't reply.

She leaned back in the car seat and caught her breath when she realized the stabbing pain in her ankle. She leaned over and took off her shoe to examine her leg.

"What's wrong?" Daryl asked.

"I think I sprained my ankle," she replied trying to move her foot without pain. "Luckily I took some bandages." She leaned over her seat and started to search through her bag until she pulled an elastic bandage out and started to wrap it around her ankle.

"You think you can walk?" the older man asked.

"I'll manage," she said and was proud on herself, because she thought she sounded really tough.

When they turned into the road that led to the house an uneasy feeling crept through her stomach. She didn't know why, but she had the feeling that something was different. She looked at Daryl and saw a concerned look on his face. When they approached the house she saw what had caused her discomfort. The front door was open.

"Fuck," Daryl mumbled and stopped the car. He jumped out and grabbed his crossbow. Beth held her knife and followed him, now clearly noticing the stabbing pain in her foot.

Daryl carefully pushed the front door wide open.

"Hey!" she shouted, but nothing happened.

"Fuck, I reckon that motherfucker escaped!" he grumbled and made his way upstairs. Beth followed him and glanced in the kitchen. Her heart sank to her boots. The cupboards were opened and lots of the food was missing.

"Son of a bitch!" she heard Daryl swear from upstairs. "That dumb ass kicked in the door."

She felt panic grow in her chest. Why had he done that? Had he been lying after all?

Daryl appeared on the stairs and the expression on his face frightened her.

"Daryl, I'm so sorry, I never thought..."

"Leave it," he interrupted her. "We needa leave! Who knows what he's up to."

She felt as if someone pulled the rug from under her. The dream she had dreamed the last few days had suddenly become a nightmare. Now this house wasn't a save spot anymore, it meant danger.

"I didn't..." she whispered, but his stare made her shut her mouth.

"Get your things and then we leave."

With trembling hands she packed the remaining food supplies. She noticed that Rupert had taken some of the kitchen knives. _Maybe he was just scared?_ But she knew what she had been knowing a while ago. He _had_ lied. And he was up to no good. The peaceful atmosphere of the house had messed up her head and she had tried to see something that wasn't there. She had tried to keep up an illusion. She felt tears of guilt and shame choking on her throat.

She brought the food to the car and Daryl followed her, carrying the rest of their belongings.

When they left, Beth felt as if something of her would always remain in that house. Something she would never see again and the thought of it made her utterly sad.


	11. Too Far Gone

**There's no excuse, I was lazy.**

**Hope you'll enjoy the next chapter! I'll post an update around the weekend!**

**Warnings: Language**

**8.**

**Too far gone**

_My dear friend,_

_we don't know each other yet, but I'm sure you'll get to know me very well soon. My name's Beth Greene, I'm 19 and I will tell you lots of things from now on. I know, it sounds creepy, but you're the only one I can talk to at the moment, you're the only one who will listen, to whom I can tell my sorrows. It's not that I'm alone – but that's a long story..._

_I've had friends like you before, you know. I burned the last one on the run. Funny story, isn't it? But don't worry, I don't plan on burning you, I only did it because I was desperate. I found you in a store the other day and picked you up. You were just laying on the ground and I kind of thought that it was a sign or so. That I should take you with me, because sooner or later I'd need you. You probably wonder, why I'm telling you that. To be honest, I don't know. Maybe I just want to chat a little bit, before I'm going to tell you the serious stuff. _

_Actually I think girls in my age shouldn't write in diaries, don't you think? Not because I think it's particularly bad, but because I think I should rather talk this things through with my friends or my sister. But in this world as it is now, it's not a matter of course to have friends at all, and especially not to have someone to talk to. But I'm chitchatting again, so let me tell you, why I need you now to be my friend._

_My father died a few weeks ago. Well he didn't die in any common way, he was rather beheaded..._

_Excuse me, I left you for a while. I couldn't stand talking about it yet. Since it happened I never could talk it through with anybody. My sister... left and I don't know where she is. Or if she's still alive. I've never been without my family in my whole life, except for a few weeks in summer camps or so, but that doesn't count. Now they're all gone! Except for Maggie, who's my sister, everyone's dead, and she probably is too. But even if she isn't I don't know where she is and I miss my family so badly._

_I'm with Daryl now, we're on the road again. We had to leave the house we lived in for a couple of days after we had to leave the prison, it wasn't safe anymore. I don't think I need to tell you about the house or the prison, because they're gone and to be honest I don't think it matters. But since then everything went down the drain. _

_Daryl is really complicated and I don't get a thing of him. We got into a real severe fight and he was really mad at me, I kind of thought he'd punch me. Actually I don't think he'd ever do that, but I've barely seen him this angry. But I don't think Daryl would hit a girl. Well, as a matter of fact he didn't even touch me since we left the house. Or at least not voluntarily._

_He doesn't talk to me either. Sometimes he does say things, but only if it's absolutely necessary. I don't know how to bear this any longer. Well, you must know we've known each other for a while, but in the past few weeks things have become kind of... different between us. I don't even know how it happened but when we were at the house, it got so intense between us. I really have... had... I don't know... a crush on him. It sounds so stupid when I write this down, but I want to be honest with you. He flirted with me and we kissed and had a crazy night together and... I really thought we might... become something... or so. Or I don't know what I thought. But what happened was beyond friendship._

_I don't even know how to explain this, since you don't know us. When I read my own words, it sounds ugly and crazy and I don't even know why I fell for him in the first place. Yet I did._

_I don't know what I was thinking. He's so different from me. I mean... he's like 13 years older than me. Is this crazy? He's been some kind of redneck guy before the apocalypse, I think he did lots of drugs and alcohol back then, and to be honest I think he did some criminal stuff, too._

_A while ago I said to him, that it doesn't matter who you were, but who you are now and I still think so, but then again it does matter. I don't judge him for being what he was. I really don't care. But all the things he was and did, they still put a lot of pressure on him. He's got like so many skeletons in his closet and he doesn't know how to handle his past. I can see that, I learn it from what he's saying and doing. He's very concerned about everything, but he'd never talk about anything. I know he has a lot of weight to carry, he feels guilty and responsible for a lot of things and I can't blame him for that. I think he's seen and experienced more ugly things than I have. I just wished he'd let me in._

_Well my friend, the thing is, it's been gotten really ugly between the two of us... We have said very bad things to each other. I wouldn't say that I'd particularly take back what I said, but maybe I should've put it in different words. And oh you don't know Daryl yet... He can be pretty offending. I think he said a lot of things that he actually didn't mean. But yet I really don't know how to cope with it. I don't know how to cope with all oft it. It shouldn't be like that! I'm sick and sad and I want some comfort, but there's no way in getting it, save telling you stuff. I can barely sleep because toss and turn over my thoughts and I hate myself for being so weak._

_I don't want to complain, but I think I'm overstrained with all of it. I'm sorry for whining about all those things I can't change. I know I have to integrate into that world but this is easier said than done._

_So, what do you have to say to all of this? Oh yeah sure, you're a good listener, but when it comes to talking you're just like him. Whatsoever, thanks for listening. It's a relief to tell this to someone. I think I'll get back to you soon. — Beth_

xxx

Daryl was speeding the car along the road. Beth felt uncomfortable, but she didn't want to make a comment on it, because she thought he needed it to calm down. She could see he was furious, yet she didn't like the way he was venting his anger. For a while they drove in silence but when he wouldn't stop speeding the car like a madman she asked him to stop.

"Daryl, did you hear me?" she asked in a high pitched voice when he ignored her. "Please, stop the car."

He didn't reply and rushed the car through a deep road hole.

"DARYL!" she exclaimed. "Stop it!"

He darted an angry look at her but continued on ignoring her protest.

"Fuck, I told you to stop that god damn car!" she squeaked panicking a little bit. "JUST STOP IT!"

He slammed on the brakes and she was thrown forward in her seatbelt. She caught her breath for a second an then looked at him in anger.

"Are you fucking kidding me? What is this even about?"

He just stared at the wheel as if he was going to explode but he didn't say a word.

She fumbled for words, not knowing how to handle this situation, when he suddenly slashed at the dashboard causing her to flinch in her seat, opened the door and left the car.

"Hey...," she said, but he quickly walked away from the vehicle. She hastily released the belt and followed him.

"HEY!" she exclaimed. "Will you please stop and talk to me?"

He turned around an stared at her furiously.

"What d'ye want?" he snarled at her. "What ye want me to say, huh?"

"I... I just... Oh my god, why are you so mad?"

"Are YOU fucking kiddin' me?" he snapped. "Did ye even realize what just happened?"

"Daryl," she tried to calm him. "I... it turned to be alright, didn't it? We're alright."

"Just leave it, Beth."

Now she was getting mad, too. He just couldn't be either being mad as hell or silent as a mute to her.

"No, I don't leave it. You calm the fuck down. We did everything that was right!"

"We did what _ye_ think's right. I shouldna ever listened to yer crap. I told ya that boy's no good, but ye wouldn't listen."

She felt as if he had punched her, but before she could reply, he continued: "Ye were goin' on an' on over there's still good people an' all that shit. I don't even know why I listened to ya in the first place, but all that bullshit got me totally messed up."

She felt sick. His words hurt her.

"This whole thing was a mistake, Beth. Everythin'."

She furrowed her brows at him in anger.

"What... what are you even talking about?"

He made a vague gesture towards her.

"Jus' everythin'! You, me and that whole bullshit with the house. I don't know what ye did to get my head all muddled up, but I'm done with it. From now on we do what I say and ye keep ya mouth shut about all that bullshit. No more singin' and no more actin' all sweet and girly, no more crap about good people."

It was as if a fist clenched around her stomach. It was mean and unfair what he said. It wasn't as if she had tried to seduce him. It wasn't as if he didn't encourage contact with her himself.

"Go to hell Daryl Dixon!" she hissed. "This is not my fault! As if none of this... mattered to you."

"Well it didn't!" he snarled back.

"You're talking crap and you know that!"

"I'm sorry, girl, if this doesn't fit to yer idea of me, but it's as I said. It was bullshit an' it's over."

She felt as if he had hit her stomach hard. It was so mean, and she knew that he only said it because he was mad at her.

"You're such a bloody liar! Why would you even ask me to sing to you in a candlelit room, if there's nothing you want from me?" she said in a high pitched voice.

"Maybe I just did tha' because I wanted t' FUCK ye!"

She felt as if he slapped her face. She was lost for words about his disgracing insults and despair started to choke her.

"Why do you say such things?" she asked in a strained voice.

"Because it's the truth, Beth!" he snapped.

"No it's not," she replied, her voice trembling. "It's not, it's just a stupid lie. You're such a jerk, you know that? You're always just mean to people when you're not able to cope with your feelings. You hurt people, so you won't get hurt first."

"Just stop yer stupid psychology talk. Ye know nothin' about me!"

The state of shock she had been paralyzed by slowly turned to real anger.

"I fucking know you better than you know! I can read you like a book, put that in your pipe and smoke it!" she snapped back at him. "If you just wanted to fuck me, why didn't you do it then?"

"Because I still have the sense t' know that there's one thing that's worse than a stupid naggin' bitch an' that's a stupid naggin' _pregnant_ bitch!"

Another hard slap. She raised her shoulders as if she was asking someone to help her when she searched for words that could argue with such impudence. But she didn't succeed and anger was raging in her chest. She opened her mouth once or twice before just letting her shoulders sink. For a moment she thought she'd burst out into tears, but then she turned around, yanked the driver's door open and shouted: "Get into that goddamn car!"

"What?" he yelled at her, but she ignored him and plunked down into the driver's seat.

"GET IN!"

She realized that he was irritated by her sudden hysteria and he approached the car with big angry steps. He flung the passenger's door open.

"What the hell, Beth?" he snarled.

"Get in or I swear to god, I'll leave without you!"

He collapsed into the passenger's seat and stared at her with an annoyed look.

"Put your seatbelt on."

"Are ye fuckin' kiddin' me?"

"Fine." she snapped and stepped on the gas while swerving the car. Daryl was dashed against the door and gaped at her in anger.

"Are you mad?"

"I said _put you fuckin' seatbelt on_!" she hissed. She was seething with rage. This was literally the worst fight she'd ever had with someone. Actually she thought, that until she had met him, she'd never had to fight so often. And he was the most mean and offending person she'd ever met in her whole life. She was so furious it made her even more angry that they had stopped shouting at each other. She drove faster than she'd ever done in her whole life, she didn't know where she was heading for and she felt tears burn in her eyes. She didn't want to cry, but she was so mad, she couldn't suppress it any longer.

"Beth!" he suddenly exclaimed. "Stop it, you're insane!"

"Oh am I?" she squeaked back. "But when you do, it's not, isn't it?"

"Beth..." he panted and she heard that he was really worried. "Please..."

She slowed down and stopped the car in the middle of the road.

"What?"

"Where are ye goin' to?"

She breathed heavily.

"Don't know, where were you going to?"

"Fuck it's as if I'm talkin' to a fuckin' child," he replied.

"So that's what you think of me? I'm a child?"

"Would you just shut up?" he yelled at her. "I've never heard such a nonsense."

"If you don't wanna hear nonsense, maybe stop talking yourself."

He groaned in irritation.

She started the car.

"I'm going to find a place for the night." she snapped.

"Fine!" he yelled back.

They set off. Beth felt her anger calm and turn into despair and sadness. She hated herself for what she said and she hated him for what he told her. It was too much for her and she didn't know how to handle the situation anymore. She didn't know where to go or what to do, so she kept on driving, hoping that she'd finally find a place to stay.

xxx

Three days. It had been three days since they had rashly left. Three days without a bed or a shower and three days in silence. Daryl didn't bother so much, but he knew she did. She had become very quiet. Quiet and sad. There wasn't a bit left of that glooming and hopeful girl she'd been a couple of days ago. And he hold himself responsible for her grief. He thought that he had maybe overreacted. That this boy wasn't a danger and that he'd just been scared after all. But he needed to protect her, this time he wouldn't allow himself to fail. How could he trust anyone after everything that had happened? How could he risk Beth getting hurt or worse, after not being able to save her father?

He did indeed regret what he had said to her and he knew he didn't mean what he told her. Yet it had been right to do so. There was no way to make things work between them, not like this. She would get over it – sooner or later. He had noticed that she had started to write in a small notebook and he thought it was a good sign. At least she seemed to have found something to do.

He sighed and shoved himself away from the front lid which he had been leaning against. It was dark and cold and he was freezing, so he decided to move a little while taking watch.

Beth was sleeping on the backseats of the car, or at least she had curled up into a ball and wasn't moving as he could tell by the silhouettes of her slender figure that he could see through the windows. He felt a pang of guilt dart through his stomach and quickly looked away. Not only felt he guilty because of everything he had said to her, but because he couldn't offer her anything better than sleeping in the car huddled under her coat. She deserved better and self-doubt made him feel sick.

He circled the car trying to get his circulation livened up. He was tired of their situation. It had only been three days, but to him it felt as a lifetime. When the sun finally began to dawn he knocked at the window to waken her. Immediately she sat up and he could tell by the dark circles under her eyes, that she hadn't slept at all. They stared at each other for a moment, than she broke the glance and opened the rear door to get out. She wrapped her arms around her and hugged herself while jumping up and down to get warm.

He opened the trunk and picked out two cans. With growing concern he noticed that their stocks faded quicker than he had thought. He offered Beth one of the cans and decided that soon they would have to find a house or store to sweep.

They finished their meals in silence and Beth tossed her can away to open the driver's door.

"What ye doin'?" he asked, raising his brows at her.

"You were up all night, I'll drive, you sleep." she answered snippy.

He sighed again but nodded. He felt sick about standing helpless in the face of their situation. When they took off he gave her a short glance from the side. She had clenched her jaw and her face was frozen. He knew she just wanted him to close his eyes, so she could pretend to have some rare private time and he decided to do her the favour. And soon he wasn't only pretending to sleep, because the exhaustion of the previous days overwhelmed him and he didn't see the silent tears streaming down the girl's face.


	12. The Car

**Guys! I'm so sorry! I know it's been a while! :( The reaction to my last chapter was just SO overwhelming I want to thank you so so much! I know it's not much compared to other fanfics, but it made me just so happy to see your reactions! I really appreciate that you took the time to leave a comment and that you like it and OMG YOU'RE SO AWESOME!**

**And then I decided (and I was encouraged by "****Jester's Pet Oriole") to get a beta reader. I hope there's less mistakes now! (My author's notes however will stay unbeta-ed ;) ) I want to make that really good and I know I can't do it all on my own, but you should know that I'm trying very hard! And just for the case you still notice anything, please let me know so I can improve! :) (Currently only this and the first chapter have been beta-ed)**

**I hope you like the next chapter. I kind of love it when my main characters have to suffer. :P But no worries, there's still much plot lying ahead, haha ;)!**

**11.**

**The Car**

_So we lay in the dark__**  
**__'Cause we've got nothing to say__**  
**__Just the beating of hearts like two drums in the grey__**  
**__Don't know what we're doing__**  
**__Don't know what we've done_

A week passed. It felt odd to Beth how quickly they had managed to create a new routine. She would sleep on the rear bench seats in the night and Daryl would take watch. Every now and then he would join her in the car, trying to take a short nap. In the morning she'd get on the driver's seat and travel wherever the road would lead her, and he'd sleep on the passenger's seat. She would only wake him when they came across a house or a farm that they would sweep in silent cooperation. They avoided cities or villages and Beth was glad they didn't meet any other people.

In the afternoon they usually stopped to prepare some dinner, go hunting or sometimes take some time to clean up themselves and their clothes. It was dull and unnerving and Beth hated it. They barely talked and Daryl acted cautious and awkward towards her.

The nights were constantly getting colder and sometimes she froze so hard she could barely suppress the chattering of her teeth. Those nights meant o sleep at all, but she was too proud to complain.

She tried to pretend that she wasn't actually as useless as she felt by practicing on her bow again. She noticed that she was starting to get better, but she was far away from being able to use it in any fighting or hunting context. Besides, she still limped from her twisted ankle. She tried to conceal it as good as possible, but it was a relief to travel by car.

Sometimes she hated herself for being so weak and sometimes she hated Daryl for being as he was. Still, she was desperately wishing to reconcile with him. She knew he hadn't meant what he'd said to her, yes, she was certain, but his words still stung in her heart. Sometimes she caught him staring at her and quickly lowering his gaze with a hurt puppy look on his face when he'd realize that she saw him. Those moments made her even madder because she knew he'd say something if he'd only find the right words and she was angry because he couldn't.

The anger and sadness in her formed to a heavy lump of emotions that she constantly carried around. She felt tired and exhausted, not only because of the lack of sleep, but because of the emotional overload she couldn't relieve. She tried to write in her notebook as often as possible to get everything out of her mind. The small black book soon became a kind of anchor point for her, and she was eager to consign her dark and desperate thoughts to the book. The lack of interpersonal relationships made her feel dizzy with emotions and she needed to get them out of her mind, on the one or the other way. Since she had only few options, scribbling in her notebook quickly became an obsession to her. She knew he felt uncomfortable when she sat there for hours and wouldn't stop writing, but she didn't feel like making any further attempt on getting back to him. If he wanted to talk to her she expected him to start. One night she wrote for such an excessive amount of time that Daryl became annoyed with her bowed head and the sound of the pencil scratching over the paper..

"What're ya actually writing th'whole time?" he asked and his annoyed tone made her smile angrily inside. Suddenly she felt the urge to make him really angry and was determined to push the boundaries. She didn't reply, but started to scribble more eagerly.

He watched her for a while and from the corner of her eyes she saw that he was furrowing his brows at her.

"Ay, I'm talkin' t'ya!" he snarled.

"Mind you own business," she snapped back but cheered innerly.

"Jeez, what a temper," he grumbled.

"Look who's talking" she said calmly, not looking up from her notebook.

"What's your problem?" he asked.

She had to fight her grin back, because she thought he deserved it. She knew it was childish, but she just couldn't help it; she wanted to get him mad as hell.

She closed her book with a snap and glared at him. He hold her stare, an annoyed and confused look on his face.

"So you wanna chat or what?" she asked snippy.

He just continued staring at her and looked bewildered and defiant at the same time.

"I'm going to bed," she snapped at him, got up and opened the door.

"Beth..." he sighed.

She raised her eyebrows.

"What?"

And again he stared at her, his face blank and she saw sadness dart from his eyes.

For a moment she regretted her snippy attitude and felt the urge to tell him it was alright and that she wasn't mad, but then she recalled their fight from a few days ago and her expression hardened. _Be strong_, she told herself. She wouldn't let him hurt her again. She collapsed on the rear seat and slammed the door shut.

When she lay down, she withdrew the book from her pocket and started to write again.

xxx

The dullness of their routine constantly lulled Beth, but after a while she thought that it wouldn't continue for long. A feeling started to grow in her that told her something was going to change. Since the outbreak, there had been very few constants in her life. People had been coming and going, places had been inhabited and abandoned, alliances had been formed and broken. But as bad as it had ever been, they had always managed to get a new start.

The situation they were currently in was by no means anything they could continue. It was as if a thunderstorm was rolling in the distance, and one could clearly hear it approach. The silence felt like an apprehension and Beth tried to prepare for the worst.

In the morning of the eighth day in the car her depression seemed to have faded a little bit. She didn't want to go back to how it had been two years ago. She wanted to live, and Daryl Dixon would either live with her or go to hell.

When she opened the trunk, she realized that their stocks were almost up and she turned around to face him.

"We need to do something," she said, trying to sound determined.

He glanced at her, then looked away quickly. She had the impression that he was writhing under her gaze, as if he was ashamed.

"Yeah," he agreed but remained still.

"I want to find my sister," she continued expecting him to snap a hostile reply at her, but he just peered in the distance and then nodded shortly.

She was baffled with his sudden agreement and knitted her brows.

"Maybe we can built up the prison again." she said, because she wanted to test his reaction.

He jerked his head around and stared at her in confusion.

"Are ye makin' fun of me?" he asked her and she thought he sounded like a sullen child.

"Little bit," she admitted biting back a grin. It gave her a certain satisfaction to upset him.

"Ain't funny at all," he said, but he didn't sound angry, but sad.

She sighed.

"I was just testing you," she told him.

He stared at her in bewilderment and she thought that this had made him angrier than her teasing. But he didn't respond to her provocation. He started to repack his bag and she suddenly felt sorry.

"Ok, look, I didn't mean... to offend you. But I was serious about Maggie."

"'Course you were," he mumbled.

"What you mean?" she asked and suddenly it was her part to be confused.

"Nothin'," he muttered and hefted his bag into the trunk. "We needa' go."

"So... what are we gonna do?" she said carefully, because she mistrusted his sudden determination.

"Find food."

"But what about..."

"Ye wanna find someone, ye needa' stay alive," he interrupted her and opened the passenger's door to get into the car. She rubbed her head in bafflement. She didn't get a bit of him, but if she wasn't totally wrong, his reaction seemed to be some kind of peace offering.

xxx

She had been driving slowly, and had checked her surroundings for hints on houses or gas stations carefully for a while, but she started to get tired. Her eyes burned and her stomach grumbled. They had cautiously organized their food supplies, which basically meant the two of them had eaten very few. Beth thought she'd almost forgotten how it felt to be full and she tried to distract her thoughts from food. She cast a glance towards the fuel gauge and bit her lip. Not only did they need to restock their food supplies, but they were running short on fuel as well.

She wanted to bang her head on the wheel in frustration. How should they ever be able to go about something when they were constantly running low on anything? She carefully glared at Daryl, but he had fallen asleep. She appreciated a lot, that he was ceaselessly taking watch during the nights but it wasn't a state that could continue. She decided that they should try to find places to stay for the night again instead of traveling randomly through the country. Maybe they could even find something like a safe spot to stay for a while, so they could organize the search for Maggie carefully.

She broke her thought when she realized they were approaching a bunch of cars that were parked on the street. She straightened up and felt a tension shift through her body. Those cars meant either danger, or the chance of finding supplies. She slowly approached the vehicles and realized that they must have been abandoned a while ago. They were dusty, most of the door were opened and garbage was shattered across the ground. Carefully, she guided the car around the location and tried to get an overview over the scenery. She stopped the car on the emergency lane and shook Daryl's shoulder to waken him.

He jerked up alertedly, but quickly grasped the situation.

They dropped out of the car in silence and started to rummage through the cars. Bodies, or rather parts of bodies were spread all across the place and Beth wondered what might have happened to them. She flinched when she almost stepped on the upper part of torso. It was half rotten and one could barely recognize the features of the face, but the head turned when she approached and it slowly raised a hand as if to salute her. She grabbed her knife and suddenly felt pity for the body. She didn't know what might have happened to that person, but she knew she didn't want to end up the same way. She pursed her lips, bent down and put the knife into the walker's head.

"You find somethin'?" Daryl asked when he saw her kneeling on the ground.

"No," she replied and got up. _What a waste of time though_, she thought. She went through the interior of one of the cars but she found nothing but garbage. When she opened the glovebox a small bottle with defroster fell into her hands. She considered to keep it for a moment, but then she couldn't imagine how it could be useful and put it back. It was frustrating, the cars had been looted already. The sudden mourning of a walker alarmed her and she spun around, her knife at the ready. It was approaching from the direction of their car and looked almost as rotten as the body Beth had found on the ground.

"I'll take care of this one," Daryl said and shot a bolt through the walker's head. He walked over to fetch the bolt from the body and Beth watched the treeline carefully. It was calm and she couldn't make out any movement, but she noticed that the place was almost too silent. She and Daryl exchanged a quick look, and formed a silent agreement to hurry up They returned to searching the cars, but Beth felt a titillation in her stomach that made her feel uncomfortable. Once again she surveyed the scenery, but couldn't make a threat out. She glanced over to Daryl who had found a rucksack and started to examine it.

Beth tried to open a locked trunk and rattled at it, but it remained closed. She murmured a curse and circled the car when suddenly the alarm went off. She was startled by the sound and looked at Daryl in panic.

"What did ya do, man?" he yelled over the noise.

"I... I don't know" she stammered.

"Fuck!" he said an grabbed the bag, tossed it to her and opened the hood to switch of the fuse. Beth turned around, to take watch, when she saw a group of several walker approach from the treeline right behind the car. It was as if they had disappeared out of nowhere, and quickly formed to a tremendous hive that had already spotted its next food source.

"Daryl!" she screamed and fumbled for her knife.

"Get in!" he told her and she headed for the driver's door. The alarm became silent and Daryl raised his crossbow. He shot a walker, circled the car and fought two others back by drawing his knife in their skulls. She watched the scene in panic but started the engine. She knew she must stay calm. She was responsible for his well being, too. Daryl jerked the door open, jumped in and she stepped on the gas.

The car darted off, knocking two walkers down and even though her vision went blurry, Beth tried to fix on the road. She took a few deep breaths and told herself to stay calm. _You're just exhausted, _she told herself. _You're tired and hungry, but you can do that._ Her hands were shaking, but her finger clung to the wheel. _We're much faster than them,_ she told herself as she watched the walkers follow the car in the rear mirror. She had a task, she had an aim, and she wanted to complete it. _Find Maggie. Stay save._ She told herself.

Daryl turned around and watched the road behind them, but the walker's quickly disappeared out of sight.

"Damn it," he murmured.

"Sorry," she replied and her voice sounded hoarse and weak. She bit her lip and wished she hadn't said it. After all, none of this was her fault. But then again she had caused the situation that put their mission in jeopardy and no one else was to blame.

He looked at her for a while and she felt uncomfortable under his gaze. She wanted to tell him to look away, because his staring annoyed her and she didn't understand why he did it..

Finally from the corner of her eye, she saw that he was making an attempt to speak, but before he was able to raise his voice, a heavy jerk went through the car. She hadn't concentrated on the road for a moment, and she didn't know what happened, but it felt as if the vehicle catapulted in circles.

She screamed in panic and tried to retain the control over the wheel. For a moment that seemed like a lifetime she didn't know where she was or in which direction they were going. She tried to find the brakes, she tried to focus on a direction. The world only consisted of blurred lines and concept of gravity became very clear to hear. And when the rotation slowly diminished and she regained the feel for above and below, she realized that the scar had spun out of control because one of the tires had burst.

It took a few seconds for her to realign and she saw that the car had stopped in an odd angle on the road. She looked at Daryl who pressed a hand against his head and stared at her with wide eyes. The first thing to say to him that came into her mind was _I told you to put on your seatbelt,_ and she thought that it was such a foolish thing to say, she suddenly felt the urge to giggle.

"You okay?" he asked and reality struck her. Was she okay? She looked down and checked her body for injuries, then moved her arms and legs and realized that her food had started to ache again, but then she nodded.

"You okay, too?" she said and realized that her voice was trembling.

He just nodded and opened the door to get out. She followed him and instantly saw what had burst the tire. A bunch of trash was spilled over the road such as glass and metal pieces amongst other things. Both, the front and the back left tire were torn to shreds and Beth clasped her hands over her mouth, realizing what this meant.

"Fuck!" she breathed. She felt as if the rug was pulled from under her. She had messed up everything. Everything. There had been opportunities for her after the prison fell, and she had ruined every single one. Daryl, the house, the car. She was a mess and she was so angry at herself she couldn't think.

"Hey!" he suddenly called. "D'ye hear me?"

She jerked her head around and realized that she must have been in some sort of paralyzation.

"No," she replied distractedly.

"Pack yer things, we needa' go!"

"What?" she asked in confusion and found it hard to focus. The feeling of loss was overwhelming and she couldn't concentrate on a new concept yet.

"They'll catch up with us! We needa' get away!" Daryl's voice attracted her attention. She knew he was right, yet her body only seemed to respond in slow motion. She forced her gaze away from the scene of accident and followed Daryl to the trunk of the car.

"Only take what ye can carry," he told her and she felt overextended by that request. How could she decide what she should take with her so quickly? She grabbed her backpack and started to stuff random things, there was no way she could think clearly now. Her body still was in shock from the physical sensation and her mind couldn't process what had happened.

Suddenly he grabbed her shoulders and made her look right into his face.

"Beth!" he said in a determined tone. "We gonna do this, 'kay?"

She nodded, but she didn't grasp what he meant.

"Come on!" he told her and helped her to lift the backpack.

When they left the road and headed for the treeline, she glanced back to the car and suddenly felt a tingle in her stomach. First of all she couldn't comprehend what it was, but then she realized that she was glad to have brought that episode to an end. The thunderstorm that had been rolling in the distance had arrived and she knew they would have to now face it. And even though she didn't know how to handle the things to come, she was glad she didn't have to wait any longer.


End file.
